Now that the Fort's new branch of Waterstones is properly up and running, I can now fully…read moreappreciate it! Gone is the cramped messy space and now there is a nice, clean, tidy bookstore! I haven't actually purchased any books here yet - I have just used the café upstairs, and I can fully testify that the Nutella muffin is delicious! As is the strawberry and white chocolate frappe. I think I actually prefer it to Starbucks as the food is very nice and the staff are sweet. It is a bit small but apparently there are more books in here than there were at the other store. Probably as this store is on two floors and the other was only on one. The store is all very light and modern. Waterstones seem to be opting for the lighter touch with their stores lately. The cafes have also been on point as of late. Another good bonus is the free wifi in the store!

I've came here for years and the staff are always great no matter what obscure and random book I…read moreask about. If they don't have it they can order it in & I've had the staff work out what I want from a really vague description. They also do the stamp cards where you get a tenner off when you buy so many books so I always like that!

Ahhhh LOVED this bookstore. As an avid reader, I was drawn to literature like any woman who lives…read morein Booktok would be. The store is cute, cramped and smells like old books. It was perfect. I even overheard a women say the first edition Hobbit was £925!!! We weren't greeted, but who is when you walk into a quiet, moody bookshop. I for one, don't want anyone talking to me when I am browsing. The books were an array of prices- ranging from high to low.

I completely forgot to review this place! It's one of the nicest used books store I've seen in my…read morelife. Edinburgh is filled with all these lovely stores and shops I just can't. This little book store is what I imagine other used bookstores wish they could be. I don't even want to buy a book there because then it would disturb the order of things. It's small but perfect for a bookworm to read a book in the corner and enjoy being surrounded by books.

Edinburgh was our first stop for spending two months in the UK. We showed up with very limited…read morebooks and games because of limited packing space. We always intended to replenish our books and games while we were here, but Blackwell's made it fun and easy. It seems like Blackwell's is just a great bookstore all-around, but it's particularly notable for the fact that the basement is devoted entirely to kids books and games. They had basically every board game you could as for and were willing to help us think about how to pick them out. We wound up getting a copy of Carcassonne (which we have at home) and Cascadia (which I'm excited to try). We also got a few new kids picture books and a book of short stories and poems which will make for good bedtime reading. My wife also picked up a few fantasy novels.

I've been a huge fan of this bookshop for many many years, and would make the effort to visit it…read moreany time I was in the vicinity to feed my reading addiction. Since the advent of the Kindle, I don't visit as often and that makes me rather sad, because Blackwell's is a great bookstore and a cool place just to browse around soaking up the literary vibes. I love the labyrinth of different rooms and secret corners where you can find the most surprising things from board games to desk toys, DVD's, maps, children's books and even a Caffe Nero at the back. Upstairs they have a vast selection of academic books, and it is this connection with the nearby University that probably keeps this bookshop alive in face of the competition from Amazon and e-books. I still love visiting here even though I'm less often inclined to buy a fiction book (most of my fiction is on Kindle these days), as they still have some interesting finds to discover that you won't find elsewhere. I love their selection of stocking-filler type gifts, their eclectic CD and DVD offerings, their board games (Carcassonne, anyone?), and of course the Caffe Nero.

Excellent old-school bookseller in a beautiful area staffed by warm and inviting personnel. Love…read morethis place! Very easy to walk here from the Royal Mile and easy to get to the shopping areas nearby as well as restaurants.

They have a very good selection of books of different genres. The ambience is pleasant and there…read moreare nice places to sit down and peruse the books and even lose yourself in thought on a rainy day. The staff, however, can be indifferent and, on occasion, rude. I don't know why. It seems like a rather nice job to have. Still, a great bookshop.

This is a great little bookshop on Dalkeith Road which has a wide range of genres, a tranquil,…read moreunintruding atmosphere and a pleasant owner. I walk past this place quite a bit, but it only occurred to me to have a look round a couple of weeks ago. It prides itself on specialising in military history, and even lays claim to being announced as having one of the best stocks of the genre in Scotland. Thus, this is the place to come for information or even novels relating to just about any war in modern history or anthologies of military strategy. In addition to this they also have plenty in the way of sci-fi, romance and adventure novels, as well as the odd natural history encyclopedia. The Bookworm is well worth a look no matter what sort of reading material you're into.

This is one of the better bookshops I've seen around town, primarily for the quality of books on…read moreoffer. It's stock focus more on the more popular books than anywhere else able to compete with it on price (though many of those places can beat this place on price). You see at charity shops you tend to get all the books that people no longer want, whereas here you are getting books that people will want to buy. Upon entering the shop you'll notice that it holds a vague resemblance to a CD shop, just with books in the places where the CDs should sit. You see, although one side is adorned with shelves, the other side has the books laid out in overlapping stacks so you'll have to quickly flick through to find out precisely which books are on offer. Other than this the last thing to point out is the fact that this shops best section is its crime fiction, and indeed the owner is probably a fan of these, so if you're also a fan you might find a quick look round here a worthwhile trip.

Antiquarian books Rare & first edition books…read moreOld classics Modern classics Penguin classics Scottish classics Scottish culture & history books Architecture books Art books Photography books History books Military books Greek & latin books European books Irish books Theology books Philosophy books Political books & Book marks In short, Edinburgh Books offers story lovers and book-worms 8 rooms of awe and wonder. To top it off, the staff are lovely and they play fantastic music from Dylan and Tom Waits to Gram Parsons.

There's a reason yelpers have almost unanimously given Edinburgh Books 5/5. It's a bloody good book…read moreshop! Somewhere between the Grassmarket and Lothian road lies this gem of a second hand book shop. Bringing class to the area unfortunately called "the pubic triangle" given the nature of the other establishments nearby, Edinburgh books remains central whilst retaining a slightly quieter location. Perfect for browsing, Edinburgh Books provides truly a great range of fiction and nonfiction, mostly well known titles and classics, as well as collectors items and antiquarian books. But make no mistake, this isn't some stuffy, up themselves store where you feel the piercing eyes of the owner follow you round the room. No no no, this is a friendly, browsing welcome gem. The first time I visited I spent about thirty minutes perusing their wares without buying and I got a nice smile and a 'goodbye' on my way out. There are signs up that say "please leave bags at the counter" which surprised me at first. But these are quickly countered by others which say "please don't hesitate to ask for help". I now presume the bag thing is to do with not knocking things over/making more room for fellow visitors. I should add here that though Edinburgh Books covers nearly all genres, its "Scottish Room" covering, yes, all things Scottish, is particularly good for its specialisation. The last time I visited I came away with a copy of Dostoevsky's The Demons, for about half the price it would have cost in Blackwells. A bargain! A lovely second hand book shop with great titles across a range of genes. A must for all book lovers living or visiting Edinburgh.

Visiting this store was one of the highlights of our Edinburgh trip. We got lucky enough to have…read moreour coffee by the windows with a view and the coffee was delicious. Nothing better than a book store/coffee combo!

My happy place. I stopped off here to pick up some books for the remainder of our trip to the EU…read moreand for the long plane rides ahead of us. This is a giant location with friendly helpful staff.

If you're only going to visit one antiquarian bookshop in Edinburgh, I'd recommend Old Town…read moreBookshop. Aside from being on one of the loveliest streets in Edinburgh, it's a delightful wee shop that stocks an eye-watering selection of books from the 1850s onwards. There's a treasure chest of Scottish history, architecture and topographical studies alongside special editions of literary classics from Shakespeare, Dickens and Burns. As the shop is run by a painter, they also sell some lovely prints, lithographs, etchings, paintings and maps of Edinburgh and beyond. Tourists hoping to pick up a picture of the Castle should note these are priced £30 - £300 depending on the age, quality and scarcity of the work.

Edinburgh's Old Town Bookshop, set at the top of the winding Victoria Street, is more like a museum…read morethan it is a book store as they specialise in collecting antiquarian literature. From the books jauntily placed in the window to the many within, each is treated with tender loving care. It shows, since the books aren't falling apart at the spine, but are rather tainted with age. The majority of their books date from the 1700s onwards and are priced as such. You can gather from the pristine condition of the stock that it's not the kind of store you'd pick up a lovingly creased copy of Harry Potter from. But they do have a collection of classics (of predominantly Scottish origin), so tourists and avid fans of Burns can have a ball gandering the shelves. I wouldn't necessarily go here for a browse since it is so specialised although the staff are welcoming if you just fancy a nosey. But this store is a trove for Antiquarian collectors, who can hope to find anything from literature pre-dating the enlightenment to old prints and lithographs. It's largely a pricey venture, but for people well versed on antique auctions the Old Town Bookshop displays some lucrative books that would bring back a substantial amount of money when under the hammer. For tourists, this place is a quirky homage to Edinburgh's literary culture of old.

Another brilliant independent bookshop for children - and their parents! - is The Children's…read moreBookshop in Bruntsfield. Established in 2007, it's a quirky shop with bright and colourful books enticingly displayed on wooden bookshelves and tables. There's picture books and alphabet books for toddlers, short stories and educational aids for four, five and six year olds and a mix of fiction and illustrated books for school children. If you look closely you'll also find, science fiction and young adult novels for teenagers. A labour of love, TCB is owned and run by Vanessa and Malcolm Robertson - who also run childrens publishing company Fidra Books. Their fingerprints are clearly all over the shop from the imaginative window displays to regular events with high profile authors like Neil Gaiman and Cathy Cassidy. If only I was seven again...

This shop is definitely one of a kind in Edinburgh. It's a really quality bookshop with both…read morefiction and nonfiction, hardback and paperback and the most thoughtful staff ever. I definitely recommend talking to the staff, 'cause they're really passionate and really quite frighteningly knowledgeable. A friend of mine worked there for a bit and she said that during her interview they grilled her a la interrogation-blinding-light style on her knowledge of literature. Which is quite comforting, because I do get bit put off a bookshop when they don't know as much as I do about literature (being a meager English Lit. graduate). And it definitely demonstrates the kind of passion you don't often find anymore. The bookshop itself is very clean and tidy (so don't go there expecting one of those second-hand bookshops you could get lost in), and their books are obviously carefully picked out. It's admittedly pricey, but if you can afford to give to an independent book seller, than you should (just for the sake of keeping the business going).

I used to make regular visits to The Paper Rack on my way between Edinburgh Uni buildings at George…read moreSquare and The Mound. I have some sort of messed up metabolism and need to eat about every 30 minutes. I don't like eating a lot of snacks and junk food so having a purveyor of some healthier alternative (a rare find) on my route is great. On my visits I would buy from their great selection of cereal and smoothie bars to fulfil my calorie needs. Having said this The Paper Rack does have a good selection of snacks and junk food as well as (for some reason) decent quality tinned biscuits. As has already been mentioned they also have a good selection of papers and magazines, a must for all newsagents. The staff serving me were always on the phone but managed to still be perfectly pleasant. They seemed to charge me something different every time for the same item, but it was always cheaper than the other nearby newsagent.

A newsagent's can only be so good I suppose, but with the rip-off haven of the Royal Mile just a…read morefew yards away, I really can't think of a better option round here for fags, chewing gum, scratchcards or gossip fuelled tabloids. With a selection of mags that almost rivals International Newsagents down the road, minus the foreign ones, it's very well stocked, and they also sell the fantastic Brannigan's crisps, the king of potato snacks and often annoyingly awkward to find.