Sweetie Miller may be a bookshop / newsagents (that bears an uncanny resemblance to another local…read morebookshop / newsagents), but as far as I'm concerned, it's all about the sweets and chocolate...baby. I think it's physically impossible to come out of this shop empty handed. It's certainly that way for me. Having gone in with the notion to buy a box of chocolates for a friend, I came out with a box of chocolates, three bags of Werther's Original Chocolates (my Cheepers' review explains all) and five Curly Wurly's. [Guess who Mr Dentist is going to absolutely love next month?] I couldn't resist. The Werther's Originals were only 99p, and the Curly Wurly's were unbeatable value at not one, not two, or even three, or indeed four...but FIVE for 89p. Yes, this excited me greatly. And it should excite you too. As well as the bargainous sweetie section, Sweetie Miller also stocks stationery, books, cards, magazines and all that sort of jazz. And they're all cheap as can be (except the magazines...they're just average price, but hey, we can't have it all, eh?). Now, where did my Curly Wurly go? (Apologies in advance Mr Dentist...)

This shop is in Bow Street Mall and always seems busy. I guess it can be best described as a…read morenewsagent. They carry a large variety of sweets, mainly boxes of chocolates and packs of chocolate bars and maybe just a bit cheaper in price than other shops in town. So especially good to pop into at Christmas time. The other section of the shop that interests me most is the book section. They have an alright range of books, and you can certainly find something interesting at a very good price. The only downside I can think of is can be quite awkward to move around the sweet displays near the front the of the shop when there are a lot of people about.

If this came through my door, I wouldn't be too impressed. The Lisburn Echo should probably be…read morerenamed the Lisburn Shadow...it's clearly the skinniest newspaper in existence (though it did come in handy for batting away wasps), with a mere sixteen pages (including the back and front covers). Of these sixteen pages, one page is dedicated to a secondary school advertisement, three pages are all about cars, there's a page for public notices, another page for services, and a lonely hearts page (or whatever they're calling them these days). So, if my calculations are correct, that leaves nine pages of news, all of which are taken up by at least half a page of adverts, meaning that there are approximately four to five full pages of just ads (I'll go with four seeing as I'm generous like that). There's also an entire page dedicated to the Hillsborough Oyster Festival (or 'Osyter' as it is now apparently spelt). So, we're now left with four pages of news, including a story on the huge amount of waste produced by the UK despite recycling, an article on 'Used Clothing Co.', and a story on the first Dobbie's Garden World to open in the UK. Exciting. Well, at least it's free...

I'd never heard of this newspaper before, which I felt was a bit odd, given the 'Ulster' part of…read morethe title. What is even odder, however, is the fact that it's a Lisburn-based paper essentially all about Lisburn. Yep, there's the story about residents battling against the Lisburn Tesco extension plans, a report on how one of the finalists of the Rose of Tralee competition works in Lisburn (despite hailing from Newry), and an article on a guy from Lisburn who has been chosen to be a rep for Bushmill's Whisky. Oh, wait...what's this? A page five story on how a Lisburn student is off to spend six months on a placement in Florida's Disney World Resort (as part of her Travel and Tourism Foundation Degree) seems to fit in with the 'norm' of the rest of these stories, but the picture beside it tells a slightly different story. It's off two girls (one of which is the Lisburn girl), and a guy. And I just so happen to know the guy. What are the chances?! He's not even from Lisburn (though he isn't included in the report, just the picture), but I still found this pretty darn hilarious. The rest of the newspaper is solely focused on Lisburn news, although an article on A Level results does branch out to include a report on Hunterhouse College (it's in south Belfast...I know, my sister went there). Pages upon pages of what's been happening in Lisburn - The Property News informs the reader of houses for sale / to let in Lisburn, the Lonely Hearts ads are all about singles based in Lisburn, and the sports section provides accounts of Lisburn-related activities. Someone please tell me...why the heck is it called the 'Ulster Star'?!

This is one of my favourite Christian bookshops, even though I don't think I've ever bought…read moreanything out of it. This hasn't been due to lack of choice, but merely because I haven't had the money to be buying anything (which seems to usually be the case, sadly). The Faith Mission Bookshop is actually a whole lot bigger than you initially think, and has such a good variety of books (shock horror), music, cards, gifts and stationery that you could spend a right while nosing around. When I was last in, I spent forever hunting through the women's books and nearly ended up buying a couple, but the money issue prevented me (sadly). Whilst I have been in other Christian bookshops which have a much greater choice, I keep coming back to this one for its systematic layout and general organised feel (makes life so much easier), as well as its homely feel and friendly staff. Ask them anything, and they'll be willing to help you. I *will* buy something from the Faith Mission Bookshop one day, money-willing...

Eason's is a large newsagent, conveniently located in Lisburn's main shopping area. A large store…read morespread across one floor, it has a wide range of products. As well as the normal magazines and books ,(and they do have a good range), they also sell all the various stationery bits and bobs you might need as well as art supplies. Staff are generally friendly and helpful enough, (and can order a book in for you if they don't have it in stock). I don't think I've ever had anything to complain about when shopping here, (other than people using the magazine section as a library!).

Somewhere I always pop into when in Bow Street Mall, just to see if they've anything new. Books are…read morealways cheaper here than anywhere else, though that means that new releases don't appear here for a while, and particular authors aren't stocked at all. But I always like to make use of one of their offers, such as 3 books for £5, or pick up something useful for 99p.. Although the shop is large enough, I actually prefer some of the other Bargain Books stores as they seem to stock a better choice of books, at least the kind that interest me.