Blackwells

A convenient, fairly large bookshop for students, Blackwells is situated on the ground floor of the student’s union and offers a very good service to those in need of books and other paper related products such as birthday cards, stationary and even novelty gifts — well clearly novelty gifts aren’t paper related, unless I suppose you wrap them in paper… anyway, they sell lots of different stuff, that’s the point I’m making.
Blackwells not only sells books, but also buy books from you at a lower price than you bought them for I’m afraid. It also stocks readers for courses, which are generally essential, so you have no excuse as a student not to visit this shop. It is a little on the expensive side however, I would suggest looking to buy online first.
The staff are very nice and helpful and this shop has personally been my birthday card saviour when I can’t be bothered to go all the way into town, and for that I thank you Blackwells.
It also has a lovely skeleton near the doorway, wonderful.

This shop, based at the back of Cardiff Students’ Union, is very geared towards academic study, with much of its stock aimed at satisfying the demands of students’ readings lists.
It’s not huge, however, so they don’t always have everything in stock — although they’re very helpful if you need to order something in.
Their range of second hand books is a bit over priced but can help save a few pennies at the start of term — although some titles are available far cheaper online.
They also sell stationery and have a small section for fiction and other non-​academic books, but there’s more choice at Waterstones in the city centre, or online.

I have a couple of problems with this shop. While it caters really well to some subjects its very limited on others. I think they always try to have all the core textbooks but I guess they couldn’t sell every book you need.
Price wise its very expensive, even the second hand books aren’t all the good value. I guess because its so convenient they know they can get people paying the top prices. Online is defiantly cheaper.
Staff thought are very good and seem to know everything.

Located on the ground floor of the students union, this shop can be accessed by going through the main entrance to the union or from the back (Sengenydd Road).
It is really just a lovely shop, and one that is entirely necessary because the university library often fails to deliver enough books for all its students.
The service is very good. When I went in, looking for Dracula, I was in a great rush and didn’t really look properly at the shelves. When I asked the customer assistant for help, in a state of obvious agitation, she stopped what she was doing immediately. She came over and picked up the book without any problems, and handed it to be with an understanding smile. I like to think that she just knows the shop inside out, rather than it was in an obvious spot!
Whilst it doesn’t offer that wonderful old book smell that you get in second hand shops, it does offer a great mix of books for courses and books for pleasure.
There’s also a wonderful array of stationery. I love stationery. Oh, I’m buying a book; I definitely need to get a new pencil case…