If this came through my door, I wouldn't be too impressed. The Lisburn Echo should probably be…read morerenamed the Lisburn Shadow...it's clearly the skinniest newspaper in existence (though it did come in handy for batting away wasps), with a mere sixteen pages (including the back and front covers). Of these sixteen pages, one page is dedicated to a secondary school advertisement, three pages are all about cars, there's a page for public notices, another page for services, and a lonely hearts page (or whatever they're calling them these days). So, if my calculations are correct, that leaves nine pages of news, all of which are taken up by at least half a page of adverts, meaning that there are approximately four to five full pages of just ads (I'll go with four seeing as I'm generous like that). There's also an entire page dedicated to the Hillsborough Oyster Festival (or 'Osyter' as it is now apparently spelt). So, we're now left with four pages of news, including a story on the huge amount of waste produced by the UK despite recycling, an article on 'Used Clothing Co.', and a story on the first Dobbie's Garden World to open in the UK. Exciting. Well, at least it's free...

After a long Tuesday afternoon dandering around Lisburn, what's the one thing you need for the…read moretrain journey home? A couple of magazines of course. (Well, if you're female anyway). The nearest newsagents happened to be Sweeneys, which, luckily for us, was filled with a large variety of glossy mags. Unfortunately, it was that time of the week when next week's edition hadn't yet been published, and so we were left looking at pile of magazines which we had already read. Bummer. Thankfully, we did manage to come across a couple that we hadn't, so all was not lost. It did take my sister a few minutes to leaf through the various glossies in order to ascertain which ones these were (well, they do all look the same after a while, don't they?), and so while she was doing this, I noticed the lovely bright yellow stickers that adorned the shelves behind me, informing me that everything was £1. Thankfully for me, I had my careful hat on that day, and was easily able (well, fairly easily anyway) to a) dissuade myself from purchasing several bags of Haribo and b) distract myself by turning to the job in hand (magazine selection). Magazines sorted, we avoided the rest of the shop (for fear of my 'careful' hat tipping over slightly), and went straight to the till. By this stage on a busy Tuesday afternoon, I was managing to look like a bag lady...literally. With numerous plastic bags weighing down each arm, and no room for mags to fit into them, the shop assistant laughed and said she would happily provide a bag (groan...not another one). All in all a productive visit. Thank you Sweeneys.

I'd never heard of this newspaper before, which I felt was a bit odd, given the 'Ulster' part of…read morethe title. What is even odder, however, is the fact that it's a Lisburn-based paper essentially all about Lisburn. Yep, there's the story about residents battling against the Lisburn Tesco extension plans, a report on how one of the finalists of the Rose of Tralee competition works in Lisburn (despite hailing from Newry), and an article on a guy from Lisburn who has been chosen to be a rep for Bushmill's Whisky. Oh, wait...what's this? A page five story on how a Lisburn student is off to spend six months on a placement in Florida's Disney World Resort (as part of her Travel and Tourism Foundation Degree) seems to fit in with the 'norm' of the rest of these stories, but the picture beside it tells a slightly different story. It's off two girls (one of which is the Lisburn girl), and a guy. And I just so happen to know the guy. What are the chances?! He's not even from Lisburn (though he isn't included in the report, just the picture), but I still found this pretty darn hilarious. The rest of the newspaper is solely focused on Lisburn news, although an article on A Level results does branch out to include a report on Hunterhouse College (it's in south Belfast...I know, my sister went there). Pages upon pages of what's been happening in Lisburn - The Property News informs the reader of houses for sale / to let in Lisburn, the Lonely Hearts ads are all about singles based in Lisburn, and the sports section provides accounts of Lisburn-related activities. Someone please tell me...why the heck is it called the 'Ulster Star'?!

This is one of my favourite Christian bookshops, even though I don't think I've ever bought…read moreanything out of it. This hasn't been due to lack of choice, but merely because I haven't had the money to be buying anything (which seems to usually be the case, sadly). The Faith Mission Bookshop is actually a whole lot bigger than you initially think, and has such a good variety of books (shock horror), music, cards, gifts and stationery that you could spend a right while nosing around. When I was last in, I spent forever hunting through the women's books and nearly ended up buying a couple, but the money issue prevented me (sadly). Whilst I have been in other Christian bookshops which have a much greater choice, I keep coming back to this one for its systematic layout and general organised feel (makes life so much easier), as well as its homely feel and friendly staff. Ask them anything, and they'll be willing to help you. I *will* buy something from the Faith Mission Bookshop one day, money-willing...

Eason's is a large newsagent, conveniently located in Lisburn's main shopping area. A large store…read morespread across one floor, it has a wide range of products. As well as the normal magazines and books ,(and they do have a good range), they also sell all the various stationery bits and bobs you might need as well as art supplies. Staff are generally friendly and helpful enough, (and can order a book in for you if they don't have it in stock). I don't think I've ever had anything to complain about when shopping here, (other than people using the magazine section as a library!).

Somewhere I always pop into when in Bow Street Mall, just to see if they've anything new. Books are…read morealways cheaper here than anywhere else, though that means that new releases don't appear here for a while, and particular authors aren't stocked at all. But I always like to make use of one of their offers, such as 3 books for £5, or pick up something useful for 99p.. Although the shop is large enough, I actually prefer some of the other Bargain Books stores as they seem to stock a better choice of books, at least the kind that interest me.