What a gem. On a high street of hit-or-miss stores and a lot of charity shops, it was wonderful to…read morefind Browsers. Their recent nomination in the Welsh Independent Retail Awards is well deserved and I hope they win. Be sure to stop in for a book or a map (great selection of regional maps) when you're in Porthmadog.

Top place. I love Browsers! They have a great range of books and are always willing to help you…read morefind what you are looking for. Even if you want a book about. and don't have a title or author they will search the computers for something suitable, order it in for you and phone to let you know it has arrived. The art department at th back is similarly helpful, with a huge range of paints, paper, card making, face painting and other art supplies. They have a loyalty card, where you get a stamp every time you spend £10, and once you ahve 6 stamps you get £5 (or possibly £10 I don't remember) off your next purchase.

An excellent indie book shop which is always worth a visit while in town, especially as it's hard…read moreto say 'no' thanks to the vey inviting window display, which always look superb. Shop itself is well stocked with both Welsh and English books and a small selection of audio CD's and cards. If a book is not instock, it can be ordered in for the very next day. Staff are bilingual and are true experts at helping you and suggesting new books and authors. There wasn't any indictaion of this from the outside, but at the back of the shop there was a small coffee bar, with a few tables and chair and a very large comfortable sofa, where you could loose hours reading books. Also, there were toilets, computers for surfing the internet and a childrens play area. Very modern, yet the shop still had that vintage feel. You don't get that from WHSmith and Waterstones, that's for sure!

Good book shop.read more

An excellent, friendly and traditional second-hand bookshop, across the road from the railway…read morestation. As well as used books, they have a good selection of old prints (perfect gifts for difficult-to-buy-for people). Well worth a look if you're passing.

Free WiFi, good coffee, and a soft play area for the kids (costs extra... But hey free WiFi?)read more

The cafe itself is pretty ordinary, but handy if you just fancy an unpretentious plate of chips and…read morea cup of tea. The main attraction being what's at the head of that large staircase ahead of you, when you first step through the front door. This has got to be one of the most extraordinary second-hand bookshops in the UK, and certainly one of the largest. Set in an old theatre/cinema (take a look around at all the remaining fixtures) there are thousands of volumes, stacked floor to ceiling, on every subject imaginable and within a rabbit-warren of interlocking rooms, staircases and narrow corridors. So take a ball of string to unravel behind you as you browse the shelves, or you'll get lost. But if you do, at least you'll have something to read. Prices are reasonable too, but don't be afraid to haggle.

The Muse is an excellent and cheap source of textbooks and reference books. Their prices are…read morereasonable, in some cases they are cheaper than Amazon and other online stores, and they have a wider range of stock, too. I'm studying languages and The Muse has a wide range of ordinary texts in the languages I'm studying as well as several other languages such as Spanish, French, German, Japanese, Russian, Italian, Polish and of course, Welsh. They have, I believe, every single textbook that's required reading or recommended reading on courses at Bangor University and local schools and colleges, and the staff are friendly and very knowledgable. If books are not in stock, they'll order them for you and they'll be there for you to collect within a few days.

This weekend has seen one of those free toy offers that crop up in the papers from time to time. On…read morethis occasion the toys needed to be collected from branches of Toys'R'Us or W.H. Smith. Yesterday (Saturday) I happened to be in Llandudno and had no problem claiming the toy from W.H. Smith there. Today (Sunday) I happened to be in Bangor. Now Bangor is officially a city, this shop is on the high street (which is even called High Street) so you'd think that a renowned national newsagent would open the doors of a city centre, High Street branch in order to sell the Sunday papers. Well clearly WHS don't think that way because when I got there, after eleven o'clock, I found it closed and with no signs of life inside. Rubbish. I eventually bought my paper in Tesco so the end result was one happy dad and two disappointed and toyless children.

WH Smith is an institution. No, not a place of respite for mentally unstable folk an institution…read morein the sense that it is indelibly marked into the public consciousness. Probably with a fairly priced marker pen from their own supply. Smiths is a great stop off point if you need to buy anything from a daily paper, to stationary, to celebrity biographies, to celebrity stationary. I have found that the staff on the tills are very fast and even during busy times you do not have to wait long to get your purchase processed. A legacy that will continue until the end of retailing no doubt.

This has to be the best branch of W H Smith! It's so attractive with lots of polished dark wood and…read moreeverything is laid out so imaginatively; the lighting is pleasant too. It's stocked with all that you'd expect to find in 'Smiths' from stationery and books to magazines. The staff also seemed very helpful when I called there two weeks ago.

This shop has a 3 paperbacks for £5 section much like The Works but has quite a bit more choice…read morethan The Works offers. I recently managed to stock up on books by the likes of Andy McNab and Jeff Lindsey that I haven't been able to find in The Works or any other discount book retailer so it gets a thumbs up from me.

Nice little book shop, quite similar to Publisher Book Clearance outlets. Quite a variety of books…read moreon show, with the obligatory 3 for £5 section, and you can find some books for as little as one pound. Plenty of room for customers. It's worth mentioning that they stock quite a few Marvel, DC & other graphic novels and collections, so if you're a comic book fan this shop could become a favourite stop off.