Waterstones

Every Waterstones is different but none have a feminist literature section, as far as I know. Nor a gender studies area, again as far as I know and yes, my knowledge is very limited to the Waterstones in Glasgow and here in the Burgh. I would also go as far as to say they lack lots of books. You can ask them to order them in if they don’t have them which is nice but what difference is that from just buying it online?
I have never been a fan of these huge corporate stores but now it seems to me after buying up all the little independent stores and with the everyone using the internet to download/​buy these products these big guys are now becoming obsolete. Which in a way is very karmic but I would like to see the wee shops pop back up. After the giants tumble, could there be a cultural renaissance in our future?

I have a inconsistent relationship with Waterstones and this visit I was preparing for disappointment and hate. I had been planning a visit to Looking Glass Books but I just didn’t have time to cross the city and I was settling for option B.
Last time I was in here, the travel section was lousy. I travel for work a few times a year and as some trips are outside of the UK, I’m always looking for city guides and maps in case I get a few hours to explore.
This time was a revelation! Clearly other people must have mentioned it’s crappiness as the section has been moved and expanded with not one, not too, not three but sometimes 6 or 7 choices of guide per destination. I liked this a lot — I like choice/​pop up maps/​recommendations so I can pour over those books and get excited about travelling before deciding on one or two purchases.
This time, I even browsed the fiction section and with Unilocal book group in mind, I was checking out potential choices. So much so, that given my guilt over not reading classics, I’ve returned home with Tolstoy as well as my guidebook as my trip reading.
So Waterstones, I like what’s going on and I might come back for another couple of guidebooks in 3 weeks time. Its a cautious 4 stars and I’ll take them back if we go back to disappointment, but so far, so good.

Zwar ein Buchladen wie viele, aber die handgeschriebenen Kommentare und Empfehlungen, mit denen manche Regale versehen sind, inmitten der reichhaltigen Auswahl an Sachbüchern macht das Offline-​Stöbern zur Freude.

This a nice Waterstone’s, with different books than the Princes street location. The costa coffee inside is also pleasant, with a small seating area. The major drawback of this location is the weak wireless signal.

It doesn’t matter I already have enough books to start a portable library, I still can’t resist the temptation of buying more.
Located on the picturesque and historic George Street, this Waterstones has a fantastic fiction department that includes thousands of novels and short story anthologies. Listed in alphabetic order, it includes everyone from great American authors like Ernest Hemingway, Raymond Carver and Carson McCullers to award — winning contemporaries like Toni Morrison, Barbara Kingsolver, Lionel Shriver and Cormac McCarthy.
Alongside established and emerging American, African, European and Sri Lankian authors, Waterstones usually stocks a strong selection of local poets and authors. The thing I find most endearing however, is the table displays including hand-​written Staff Recommendations. Other shoppers might ignore these and head straight for the 3 for 2 section but it’s thanks to the staff that I’ve bought — and loved — books by Margaret Atwood, Aminatta Forna, Dorothy Allison and newcomer Emma Henderson and Deborah Kay Davies.

I quite like looking around in book shops. There’s something satisfying and sophisticated in looking around these places isn’t there?
This branch is no exception. Really nice and eerily quiet, it’s your bog standard book shop!

The waft of coffee beans from the rear located Costa Coffee is a tempting accompaniment to the wide selection of fiction available at Waterstones. The interior itself is nicely polished with plenty of wooden beams and dimmed lighting.
There’s usually a 3 for 2 deal on a wide range of books, perfect when your looking for a number of holiday reads.

I love wandering around book stores, it’s great to get a good bargain off of Amazon but it totally skips the fun part of pawing at various different books, reading the back deciding if it’s good or not, putting it down, picking other ones up. It’s a whole process that I thoroughly enjoy.
This branch of Waterstones feels very plush indeed and they have a great selection of books. The other week I popped in looking for some inspiration, I spend a lot of time travelling on public transport and so get through books like nobodies business. I’m really funny with books and if I don’t like one I can’t even force myself to read it, on the other hand, if I find a great read I can’t put it down and have stayed up throughout the night to finish a real page turner. I was just browsing when another customer struck up a conversation telling me about this great read they’d just finished, I can’t remember what it was but it was a soppy/​chic/​romance type book and even though it sounded like the woman really enjoyed it, it didn’t sound like my bag.
You can also get recommendations from the friendly staff members here and it’s just a great store for a browse, very well stocked too.