I was in the store today more so for the coffee at costa than anything else. Like every other…read moreshop, the service was extremely slow. Any vacant tables was littered with previous customers empty dishes etc. No staff in sight to clear away. The chain really needs to consider how they improve on this. On a positive note, the cappuccino was nice.

This store has been taken over by Waterstones..see review for this. The store lay out is exactly as…read morewas so you wont really notice the difference only by the sign out side, and the prices which are alot less.

A small but well stocked second hand bookshop. I visited it several times recently and bought…read moreseveral books - good, clean, paperbacks at low prices (one was 75p, another £1). There are, of course, many hard-backs for sale as well, plus magazines and videos. Everything is laid out neatly on shelves which are clearly marked so it's easy to find what you're looking for. Helpful staff too.

Loved this shop and could have stayed for hours!! As it was I went there two or three times and…read morebought several books. It's a well lit and beautiful shop with everything neatly arranged in clearly marked categories, so it was easy to find what you were looking for. A good range of maps, guide books and books on Scotland; novels, biographies, a great children's section too and much more besides. Best of all, the lady at the counter was extremely nice. I'll be going back there the next time I'm in the town!

What a great experience. I consider myself to be an experienced antiquarian book collector from…read morethe US and Caledonia Books of Glasgow did not disappoint. Proprietors Martin and his sister (my apologies for not remembering her name) were just great. Once I explained what I was looking for they were extremely helpful. Nice selection of both contemporary and antique books. Definitely one of the top antiquarian shops in Scotland.

I love second hand book stores, and Caledonia Books is probably the first one you'll meet in this…read morearea since the rest are tucked away doon lanes. It's been here for years and has been the first thing that's met my eye at the bottom of Belmont Street since I was a tot. Thus, I would be distraught if anything ever happened to this store, which has looked the same all my life. I used to go here with my mum who loves reading, but started properly utilising it when I studied English Lit at university. I'll get the negatives out the way first since I don't want to bring the tone down, but it is fairly pricey and the staff study you as you walk in. Unlike Thistle books, where you can engage in a long, lively conversation with the shop owner about the book of your choice (seriously, he knows all when it comes to books) or the erratic, nutty professor approach at Voltaire and Rousseau (which has become treasured by the population of Glasgow for these outstanding qualities), there's a cold breeze that blows through Caledonia. And that cold breeze seems wafted from the general direction of the shop owners. I've felt quite uneasy in here at times, like the shop owners don't think I belonged there. It was like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman, but with books and baggy jeans instead of hookers and girls who belonged in magazines. My 18 year old self left with tail between legs, head drooped, but now that attitude just makes me indignant. The guys in here aren't unbearable, but they come across as a bit cold to say the least. It's also quite expensive for books. But there is light at the end of this review, and I'll end it with the glass being three quarters full. The books are in very good condition, they are well ordered, there are loads of different categories, loads of interesting books about art that I want to dive into at every opportunity, and it's a Godsend to lit students. I also enjoy their music category - they always seem to acquire some interesting rock biographies and anthologies. So the attitude of the staff is a bit stuffy, but their book shop is great. So, who cares?

Why has this place not been reviewed yet? It's so resourceful!…read more It's tucked away off the main street but seriously, swerve left before you hit Tattie Mac's, take a wee right and you're there! And you won't be disappointed. Like a better organised Voltaire and Rousseau or a more reasonably priced Caledonia Books, this place has a large collection of lit crit for the uni student, a ton of sheet music past and present, and a plethora of fiction and non-fiction, all organised into appropriate sections. The guys who own it are really friendly, always eager to ask if you need assistance and will find you what you need in a second flat. Great selection, the books are pleasantly priced and in good nick. I bought A Clockwork Orange today (bit of light reading, ha) and not only was it only four quid but it looks like new! The owners are always very knowledgable of their craft and banter is free. Very useful for uni students but also accessible if you just fancy a new read. Thistle Books are a service to the local literati community!

As much as I appreciate playing a game of potentially life threatening over-sized Jenga with the…read morebooks of Voltaire and Rousseau is part of the shop's appeal, sometimes all you want is a little bit of order. On those occasions, pay a visit to this little gem, which is situated in the lane adjacent to V+R. Like its neighbouring competitor, Thistle is a second hand book mecca, stocking virtually every genre you could imagine at extremely reasonable prices. Unlike V+R, it is set out neatly and something resembling orderly, meaning you actually have a chance of finding a specific title. Don't get me wrong, Thistle is no Waterstones. It retains the tattered, rough around the edges appeal of all second hand book shops in this neck of the woods and, most importantly, offers ample opportunity to uncover hidden gems at a fantastic price. The staff are also very welcoming and content to let you spend the day browsing and reading. Hell, they'd probably even make you up a bed for the night if you wanted to stay.

Now, the Kindle is a marvelous invention, there's no denying that. How else could you carry all…read morethose books around with such ease! But, of course, nothing can take away from the warm feeling of a crisp, worn, second-hand book. In this sense, Stirling Books is the anti-Kindle. Not in a pretentious way, not in the least. More in a 'Hey, I'll still be here if you need me,' tipping its cap at you as you go by, kind of way. Second-hand books are thrilling. - Reading the heartfelt messages inscribed in the books given as gifts, imagining why they were given up or even just picturing the previous owner. It's all exciting stuff and in here, you never know what you might find! - There's literally book after book after book. My favourites are the old lived-in books and there's lots of those to be found here. There's also a large academic section in the back which is great if you're working your way through your reading list, thrifty students! It's also worth mentioning that there's a very enviable Shakespeare collection. Shakespeare fans rejoice! I love the arrangement of the shop. It's very relaxed and just a little bit hectic without being messy and unorganised. It just feels like you've wandered into someone's very large book collection with shelf after shelf to explore and the addition of helpfully divided sections. Staff are really friendly and I'm sure you can even even grab a coffee or tea whilst you browse. If you were looking for something in particular, I've no doubt that there would be someone more than happy to help! There's also some other crafty bits and bobs and ornaments to have a look at whilst you're in. So, whilst I don't urge you to drop the Kindle forever, I urge you to drop it only momentarily to make your way down this set of stairs on Maxwell Place. - A proper independent bookstore like this is, not only a rarity today, but a pleasure to browse!

Delightful, with many standard works at amazingly low prices and also rare treasures. The staff are…read moreinteresting and knowledgeable folk, friendly and helpful. I am an inveterate browser of second-hand bookshops throughout Britain and Europe and I can thoroughly recommend this one. Not only should you go there for a good, inexpensive cup of coffee (or good tea) where you can sit in comfort reading some of your prospective purchase, but you should also recommend Stirling Books to your friends. It is a light of civilisation (and a blessed relief from the shopping traipse-).

Voltaire & Rousseau is the book shop of Bernard Black's dreams. There's no chatting, no coffee, no…read morecustomer service, just books; books & books & books (oh and a cat!) I L O V E this shop, to me it's a Glasgow institution, a unique treasure trove of literature that appears to be completely unaffected by the world outside. If you remember seeing Scrooge McDuck diving into his vault of gold coins, I have this image of the owner jumping off the shop's ladder into all those books! What I love about this place is the fact that it's so jam-packed with books, a good number of which are probably at least 20 years old. It's like stepping back in time in the history of publishing. I've bought some of the most enjoyable & informative books I've ever read. Even if you don't like reading, then how about an old Oor Wullie annual for £1? Look up to the wooden shelf to get a (rough) idea of the subject of the books in front of you, just bear in mind that the books are three rows deep & tall enough to bury a child. I noticed a book in the shop today on mountain disasters & I felt a chill run through me, as if the cries of children, trapped behind the rows of books, were calling out to me. It also occurs to me that the current shop cat may not be the original... The two guys running the shop aren't the most animated of shop owners, usually they only move to make a cup of tea or if one of them is rolling a cig. There's a book for everyone in this shop, just don't expect any help finding it. While they're not particularly chatty, they're no Bernards either, so don't let a lack of a welcome put you off coming in to (carefully) rummage through the piles of brilliant, cheap books. Just leave a trail of breadcrumbs or maybe take a GPS marker if you decide to venture in past the first row!

V & R is exactly what a second-hand bookshop should be - it's a decaying old building with books…read morestacked from floor to ceiling so that you feel it can only be the books that are stopping the place from collapsing. The shelves have long ago been filled and are now half-concealed behind the piles of books on the floor. Don't expect an organised filing system here - I'm sure there is one but it's pretty impenetrable. Fortunately the chaps who run it have a positively encyclopaedic knowledge of what they have and can usually point you in the right direction. There are some great finds to be had if you're willing to spend the time looking; in the past I have found some rare esoteric books in here. They're not so good at buying books from you as I discovered recently when I was offered a pittance for 5 boxes of quite unusual books from my library, all in good or better condition. I appreciate they have to make a living and it can't be easy in this age of e-books and Amazon; anyway I declined the offer and I still have the books for the moment. In winter it's a bit chilly and the sole heating appliance appears to be a portable Calor gas fire - not the safest thing to have in room full of nice flammable paper you would think and I'm sure it's an accident waiting to happen. Definitely not the place to visit if you're in a rush; expect to lose an hour or two browsing around in here. It has to be my favourite second hand bookshop in Glasgow and long may it continue to be so.

This wonderful branch of Waterstones is filled with gorgeous big bookcases full of every kind of…read morebook you could possibly want. I can easily spend hours in here, browsing the shelves, flicking through a few books and then wandering downstairs for a coffee at their little branch of Costa. Waterstones has managed to make this great big book shop into a comfortable and cosy feeling store that welcomes its customers warmly, with staff that are well read and more than able to advise on your purchases. A good old British book store that will be staying put for years to come.

This is not only Glasgow's largest Waterstones, it's Glasgow's largest bookshop. Actually, scratch…read morethat, I can do one better, it's Scotland's largest bookshop. This is a fact that Waterstones quite rightly takes a little pride in. It's split across five levels and includes a Costa Coffee in the basement. Certain indie coffee shop fans may turn their nose up at Costa, and while I sympathise, any coffee shop that's inside a bookshop automatically becomes a good coffee shop. I'm pretty sure that's a universal rule. I feel like in a good bookshop I browse differently to how I would online. If I'm looking for a book online, chances are I already know which book it is and I'm just trying to get the lowest price/nicest edition/fastest delivery time. In a real book shop you have that joy of exploring and of looking at books that you never knew you wanted (or even books that you never knew existed). It's easy to start on the top floor and lose 20 minutes, lose another 30 on the next floor down (that's non-fiction and reference covered), lose at least another hour on the next floor which contains most of the fiction, 20 minutes one floor below that , which is the level you enter on, the stock rotates a lot here and includes toys, gifts and (inhale sharply) stationary. See? You've already lost over two hours and you haven't even looked at the children's section or the young adult section. You've not even seen the books on travel! Or film! Or art! They're to be found across the next two floors alongside that coffee shop. It's a dangerous thing to enter a bookshop and the larger the shop the more dangerous it gets. Tell a friend to come looking for you if they don't hear from you after a day or two.

This is both a bookshop and newsagent and actually, it was pretty damn good! I didn't expect much,…read moreI'll admit - but they had a good range of new books as well as lots of Scottish/local books. They also sold a lot of gifts, so if you needed something to entertain the kids you could get toys here. Staff were really friendly, prices were reasonable and they had a good range considering you're on Arran. Well worth a visit when you're wandering down the main road, that's for sure.