This makes me feel old, but I do remember when W H Smith used to be a proper bookstore; now it's essentially just a big newsagents. There's very few actual books (if you want that, go across the street to Waterstone's), but the shop does sell a good mix of gifts (especially around Christmas), chocolate, games, DVDs and magazines.
There's sadly not a huge manga/comic section, and the few that they do have they shove in with the young kids' magazines, which is a bit inappropriate as some of them e.g. the not-quite-for-kids Deadpool do not exactly mesh well with Barbie or Disney-related kiddie mags. The staff here are really friendly and helpful, and they try to keep the queues under control on busy days. The only pain is their shopping bags - literally a pain - they're made of that kind of material that cuts through your hands after holding them too long! read more
