try the charity shops first! (Book Shops in Bristol)

Member Name: AmyXXXX

Product:	Book Shops in Bristol
Date:	09/11/00 (174 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Amnesty bookshop

Disadvantages: Not as many bookshops or as wide a range as I'd like to see

I have lived in Bristol for over 6 years now, arriving as a raw undergraduate in 1994 and ending up as a rather jaded postgraduate. Books have been a major part of getting me through uni; I read about 10 a week (truly) so am well classified to give you the lowdown on Bristol book shops.

Cribbs causeway
If you don't know this is the big shopping mall by the junction of the M5 as you come into Bristol via Clifton, etc. here are Waterstones and WH Smith, the waterstones is large and comprehensive and WH Smith will sell you the latest bestsellers, travel guides, Harry Potter etc.

Broadmead
This is the rather run down city centre shopping area of Bristol. In "The galleries" shopping mall is I think another Waterstones, again quite comprehensive. And there are also around Broadmead cheap book shops selling bog standard cookery/military/children's books. But do not bother going to Broadmead. Walk past John Lewis and out of St Andrews down the...

...Gloucester Road
I live off the Bloucester Road and I am very glad that I do. There are very many charity shops on the Gloucester Road; St Peters Hospice, Help the Animals, Cancer Research and Scope all have small but cheap book sections. But the real find is Amnesty bookshop (the one that trusts you and leaves half its books outside even when its closed). Amnesty has a wonderful range of books ranging in price from 20p (the outside ones) up to about £2-£3. The thing is that if you are into out of print books as I am, not only do they have a great second-hand selection, they are at these wonderfully low prices (I usually give a donation at the same time as buying the books as they really are so cheap). For instance I am into science fiction, horror, old Penguins, Virago, politics and they have a wonderful selection of books like these as well as old children's books (Noel Streatfeild, the "Jennings" books etc). So do go there if you are in bristol

Cli
fton/University.

The bookshops round here are rather depressing, the Oxfam (Cotham Hill) sells not a brilliant selection of books and the prices start at £1.49 (expensive for what they are) Opposite the Physics Department of the University is a very small Waterstones, very good for eg engineering and medical textbooks but only tends to have the most recent and highbrow fiction releases. Go down the Hill to the Triangle and you find two Blackwell's shops selling both fiction and a wide range of University textbooks. Very good but too expensive for me!

Hope this helps you find the books you want in our lovely city of Bristol. And watch out for the rain. It always rains. Even when the rest of the country is enjoying good weather!

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