This is a magical place: all sorts of wonderful books, a super, eclectic selection. Staff very…read morehelpful. And good value. Do call in, worth a special trip!

Good little shop for second hand books, I find myself in here a lot, whenever I walk past I can't…read moreresist popping in for a new (used) paperback. Characterful shop and as with all used books shops you never know what you'll find inside, which is half the fun.

This place is a global treasure. One of us had been here 11(!) years ago with friends who live in…read moreNewcastle who brought her here, and she loved it so much that she insisted we all go again--so we did. After spending the morning at Alnwick Castle, we came to Barter Books for lunch and browsing. The cafe is adorable and cozy, and our party of seven was promptly seated. You order at the register and you do not want to sleep on the rarebit--it's so good! While it had just a tad too much mustard than remembered, it was still so gooey and heart-warming (and certainly more impressive than the pile of gloop that was our daughter's mac-n-cheese...let's just pretend that never happened). The beans on toast was also comforting and perfect in such a setting. Fries (chips!) are well-made, and the accompanying salad has a tangy vinaigrette. The whole bookstore is a converted train station and it's massive and we would have perused the titles for several more hours had we not had four children in our party. It was still a lovely time exploring the store, roaming the aisles, and getting lost in old books. We bought a few to bring home, as well as some other swag. And obviously you don't want to miss seeing the famed original "Keep Calm and Carry On" poster. This is just one of those magical places that you really can't describe, but once you go, you'll get it. Five unequivocal stars.

Love this place! Neat rooms to explore, fun model train, lots of used books a nice selection of…read morenew gifts AND a great and reasonable cafe. Their chips are so good I went back the next day for a snack.

Ordered a pricey Folio Society backlist from this shop via Abe books and was very satisfied with…read moreboth their prompt communication and their careful packaging of my shipment all the way from the North East to California. Book arrived intact, within a couple of weeks of shipment. Great shop - will make an effort to visit in person when next in the area!

From the owner: Established in 1981, Keel Row Books is the North East's leading specialist bookshop for rare, fine,…read morecollectable and first edition books.

WH Smith is located on King St in South Shields, it has been around for what seems an eternity. It…read moreis a smallish branch that has a range of books and stationery as well as some gifts as well. This outlet is well priced and has quite a large range in despite its size. The staff are very helpful and chatty and will try there best to help you out, The range of books is not the best but they can order anything from a larger store for you and have it delivered within a couple of days which is always handy.

This branch of Waterstones is a fairly nice branch and one of the more modern branches of…read moreWaterstones I have visited across multiple cities including my home-town of Manchester, Liverpool and even the branch in Newcastle city centre, which as far as I'm aware (the latter) is located in a really old, listed building. This branch follows the new Waterstones approach, the store overall feels modern and new, which is nice for a bookshop, the headings are clearly labelled to show what they are such as Education, Crime, Action and Non-Fiction etc as I recall, which I found pretty cool as it made the store easy to navigate. This store, of course, is located in the intu Metrocentre, it is in a fairly central location, close to one of the few lifts in the mall, for navigation purposes I am aware it is classed as being part of Platinum Mall in the Metrocentre, which are categories I don't seem to understand, they basically just confuse me. The staff around the store didn't seem too stand out, which was a shame, and the product range was okay, albeit selling a slightly better range would be better as well as making sure the book prices were clearly labelled, to avoid having to scroll through the front and back pages to look for the RRP which I presume they are selling the book at, even though in some cases the RRP is outdated as it is the old book, and sometimes there isn't even one printed, making it annoying as I like to know prices before I buy, rather than asking a member of staff at the checkout perhaps. Overall, how the prices of the books are displayed need to change, perhaps extending the product range too to make this store not just a modern store, but a product with great selection would also be good, improving the helpfulness and welcome from the staff would always be good, but my shopping experience here was reasonable / good and for that I feel this is one of my preferred book shops, and perhaps favourite Waterstones branch I have visited, despite it not being the largest, in size it doesn't compare to the branch in London over multiple floors and the branch in Liverpool over two floors, yet I still think this store deserves a three star rating I'm pleased to report.