| A.E Morris  40 High Street BETHESDA Gwynedd LL57 3AN map tel: 01248 602533 Very small shop but with a very diverse stock, VERY reasonable prices, came away with a few real bargains. - The Wanderer 27.11.09. A delightful little bookshop with some decent titles scattered around, all at most reasonable prices. The lady owner has been in the trade for many years and I enjoyed listening to her stories of bookselling in yesteryear. A most pleasant visit. - Chris Harte 09.05.11.
Bay Bookshop  14 Seaview Road COLWYN BAY Conwy LL29 8DG map tel: 01492 531642 e-mail web Open: Monday - Saturday 9.00 - 5.30, including Bank Holidays. Over 40,000 antiquarian and secondhand books ranging from 50p to £500, maps, prints and postcards. Art, architecture, aviation, astronomy, biographies, cookery, crafts, fishing, gardening, history, hobbies, hunting, literature, natural history, ornithology, psychology, philosophy, sport, shipping, transport, travel, topography, Welsh history. We buy any quantity of quality books from single items to house clearance. Credit/Debit cards accepted, established 1973. Nicely laid out shop, with some interesting stock. Friendly and helpful proprietor as always. - Robert Brown 02.04.09. Came up trumps again. (Maybe I'm just lucky!). - Robert Brown (Bookdealer) 29.06.09. Always worth a visit. Good selection and good turnover so you don't see the same old dogs year after year. Recommended. - Corso 11.09.09. Our favourite shop in Wales. Excellent wide stock at reasonable prices, strong on Railways and Welsh interest but seems to cover everything. - Norman Davies 24.04.10. A bookshop which deceives on first glance but actually contains some very good material. I found one very rare volume and others of a general nature. The manageress was a delight and her kindness to regular elderly browsers was wonderful to behold. Take your time here, especially at the rear of the shop, for there is much to investigate. Very reasonable prices. - Chris Harte 17.08.10. Second visit this year, but most unusually drew a blank. Staff helpful and friendly as always, but struggling to find the stock (aren't we all!). Always worth making the trouble to visit however. Prices very reasonable as ever. - Robert Brown 29.09.12.
Berwyn Books  Old Chapel Llangollen Road Acrefair WREXHAM LL14 3SF map tel: 01978 810305 e-mail web Open: Monday - Saturday 9.00 - 5.00. Up to 20,000 books on our growing internet inventory. Valuations, book binding and clearance services. **Situated at the rear of an antiques centre on a not easy to find side road on an industrial estate. Once found, the pleasure of searching the shelves takes over. Here is a shop comprising quality publications; some old and some fairly recent but all worthy of time to check if they could be worthwhile purchases. Everything in marked categories which makes it easy to browse. WWAD. - Chris Harte 07.04.13. **Moved to Old Chapel in May. - TBG 16.05.13.
Bookbane  Unit 9 Felin Fawr Coed y Parc BETHESDA Gwynedd LL57 4YY map tel: 01248 600 632 e-mail Open: 7 days 9.00 - 6.00. 25,000 books in Welsh, English & other languages. Poetry. Technical publications from the 19th & 20th centuries. Working class movement library. Shop & bindery in interesting early 19th century quarry workshop.
Cader Idris Books  2 Maldwyn House Finsbury Square Cader Road DOLGELLAU Gwynedd LL40 1TR map tel: 01341 421288 e-mail Small shop, one room, tidy and well organised - shame about the books. Same firm runs Dyfi Valley Bookshop in Machynlleth.!! - Corso 14.09.09. In new premises (next door) but still a single room. Good Welsh material and lots of Victorian/Edwardian fiction. Call in if you are passing. - Chris Harte 28.02.12.
Cafe and Books LLangollen  17 Castle Street LLANGOLLEN Denbighshire LL20 8NY map tel: 01978 860334 or 861963 e-mail web Open: 7 days 10.00 - 4.00 We are one of the largest second hand book shops in Wales with over 100,000 in stock. Dr Who, art, antiquities/collectables, crafts/hobbies, DIY, fishing, fiction, gardening, health, history, horror, lit-crit, music, plays, poetry, religion, royalty, Shakespeare, sport, transport, theatre, war/military, westerns. Trade welcome. You have to enter though a cafe smelling of chips and go up the stairs to find the entire first floor including a vast cavernous upstairs hall - presumably an old chapel - filled top to bottom with books. High prices and a rather tired old stock are helped hugely by the apparently permanent half price sale. Worth a visit. - George Marshall 06.02.09. Even with a 50% discount some of the stock strikes me as being overpriced - e.g. an early Penguin paperback, not particularly rare and lacking a paper jacket, at £40 (£20)! - Henry Middleton 15.10.09. Agree, even with 50% off this is one of the most overpriced bookshops anywhere. Huge stock but surprisingly uninteresting. - Norman Davies 24.04.10. Lovely coffee smells greeted me when entering the cafe which wafted up the stairs to the bookshop. A very varied selection of books on the many shelves with a stong section on religion. I spent some time in the literature room and saw quite a number of titles circa 1820-40. Although I only purchased three volumes there was much I could have bought had I had the space. New owner is Darren who showed me the thousands of remainder books he has in store which will eventually find their way into the shop. - Chris Harte 18.08.10.
Colwynbooks  66 Abergele Road COLWYN BAY Conwy LL29 7PP map tel: 01492 530683 web Open: Tuesday & Thursday - Saturday 9.30 - 5.00 Second-hand books, maps and postcards, new books of local interest, handmade bookmarks. Website being developed. Seems to open at the owner's whim according to local information. - Chris Harte 17.08.10. Found them open at long last. Very general stock with many paperbacks. - Chris Harte 09.05.11.
Madoc Books  5 Madoc Street LLANDUDNO Conwy LL30 2TL map tel: 01492 871 590 fax: 01492 871 590 e-mail web Open: Wednesday - Friday 8.30 - 2.00 & Saturday 10.00 - 4.00. A serious assortment of antiquarian books in many subject areas. Prices on high side, but an exceptional stock. - Trefor Thomas 12.11.09. For the specialist only, good stock but mostly rare and expensive items. - Norman Davies 24.04.10. Each book individually tagged with prices more akin to central London. Strange to find such a shop in the provinces. Atmosphere starchy and cold. Shop really only for the trade and unsuspecting monied visitors. - Chris Harte 09.05.11.
Odyn Copr Mountaineering Bookshop  66 High Street LLANBERIS Gwynedd LL55 4TF map tel: 01286 871366 fax: 01286 871366 web Open: Saturday 10.30 - 5.00, Sunday 10.30 - 1.00. (During the summer months we are open daily.) We specialise in mountain and outdoor books both old and new; but also have a wide range of general reference books, poetry, classics and holiday reading. SMALL friendly shop. Slow turnover of stock. Not strong on condition,bargains known. Half a dozen shelves of mountaineering books. Better stock on shelf behind the counter. - Corso 30.03.11.
Oxfam Bookshop  6 High Street WREXHAM LL13 8HP map tel: 01978 355533
Oxfam Shop  301 High Street BANGOR LL57 1UL map tel: 01248 354110 The back half of this Oxfam shop has numerous shelves groaning with well categorised titles. Being a University town the quality of most of the non-fiction is fairly high with numerous bargains on offer. Lots of mid-wars fiction to be found. Worth a look if around the area. - Chris Harte 17.04.13.
Rhos Point Books  85 The Promenade RHOS-ON-SEA Conwy LL28 4PR map tel: 01492 545236 fax: 01492 545236 e-mail Open: Tuesday & Thursday - Saturday 10.30 - 5.00. Tiny shop, very small stock. Found nothing, but Rhos is a very nice place for a coffee and cake, so worth the trip anyway! - Robert Brown (Bookdealer) 29.06.09. Shelves contain very general titles and had an assistant who hardly knew the business. However, having purchased quality books from them via the internet, I suspect there are better titles in a store somewhere. - Chris Harte 09.05.11.
Siop Lyfrau Lewis Bookshop  (was David Hughes) 21 Madoc Street LLANDUDNO Conwy LL30 2TL map tel: 01492 877700 e-mail Open: Monday - Saturday 9.30 - 5.00. A good selection of antiquarian and second hand books in Welsh and English. Welsh and local history, maritime, military, English literature and theology etc. particularly well catered for. A popular and well known bookshop, established over 30 years at the same premises. Disappointing. Stock on ground floor a mess, and very low key. A bit tidier upstairs, but still low key. If there were any antiquarian books, apart from those in Welsh, I didn't see them. Not worth the rather long detour in MVHO. - Robert Brown 02.04.09. Excellent shop, good mixed stock, realistic prices. Friendly, helpful, & negotiable proprietor. Well worth a visit. - Tony H 19.05.09. Very disappointing. Stock on ground floor is a mess, and very low key,no attempt to keep shelves stocked. A bit tidier upstairs, but very low key. Ideal if you want to buy a Birthday card,piece of cake, or hear what the local choir is doing. The 'real' Antiquarian shop is just up the street and is excellent. - Corso 19.09.09. Chaotic. Welsh speaking. Rear ground floor room a shambles and damp but ideal if you like burrowing. Good tea and cake upstairs. - Norman Davies 24.04.10. I found this shop fascinating. So much so that I visited it three times in one day! Indeed it is chaotic but there are treasures to be found if you delve through the piles. On my first and third visit I found a total of four books which I really never expected to see anywhere. Prices were very reasonable. You need time and patience to scour the shelves: but you will surely be rewarded in the end. - Chris Harte 09.05.11.
Siop Y Morfa  109 Stryd Fawr RHYL Denbighshire LL18 1TR map tel: 01745 339197 e-mail web
Spread Eagle Books  The Spread Eagle 3 Upper Clwyd Street RUTHIN Denbighshire LL15 1HY map tel: 01824 703840 Main business is new books, but has a very small selection of second hand stuff. Some good antiquarian Welsh topography, if that is your interest. Worth calling if you're passing, but not worth a long detour. Try also Tilly Mint Antiques on Clywd Street, two minutes away, as I found a couple of interesting titles there. (Ice cream parlour upstairs is good too! Ruthin a lovely little town, poised as though it might fade away soon as so many shops are closed ...) - Robert Brown (Bookdealer) 29.06.09. The second hand section is small but very highly priced. A lovely little section though nonetheless. The only major downfall was the awful female assistant who virtually chased us out of the shop and therefore lost our custom. It was a shame that we were treated so badly - if she wants to sell books then she must learn common courtesy and people skills! - Mel Beatty 28.7.09. One room at back, disappointing, quite pricey. - Norman Davies 24.04.10. A charming lady owner made our time in her shop very precious. She had knowledge of the trade and gave my wife and I assistance with some of the titles she had on offer. Admittedly her stock was not vast but it certainly contained some quality items. - Chris Harte 09.05.11.
The Bookshop  4 Hawarden Road COLWYN BAY Conwy LL29 8NA map tel: 01492 530110 e-mail Open: Monday - Saturday 10.00 - 5.00. A large selection of philosophy, literature, archaeology, psychology, history, art, poetry, travel, military, fishing, natural history, biography, science fiction, children's and antiquarian. Out of print collectable. All books reasonably priced and we are always looking for new stock and keep the place rotating. Always worth a visit. I've been to Colwyn Bay twice in the past year, and the shop has been shut both times. A bit irritating if you are making a buying trip! - Robert Brown 02.04.09. Overpriced tat for the most part, many of the books with creasing, split spines, and way overpriced compared to all the other bookshops in the area. Just not worth the effort. - The Wanderer. 31.03.09. Managed to get in this time. A bit untidy, and the stock is generally low key. Didn't manage to buy anything, however, would go in again if it was open, as you never know. - Robert Brown (Bookdealer) 29.06.09. Vastly improved, in the middle of refurbishing. New shelves, stock has been weeded and is now far better quality than previously. Prices were reasonable and owner was friendly. - The Wanderer 27.11.09 This shop may look tatty from the front but don't give up, for there is a lot to explore. I was taken down to the basement where I spent a good hour getting covered in dust but I emerged triumphant with a number of sought after volumes. Friendly owner who has recently purchased the stock of a nearby bookshop which, alas, has closed its doors. - Chris Harte 17.08.10.
The Emporium  Leeds House 20 Heol Maengwyn MACHYNLLETH Powys SY20 8DT map tel: 01654 700 401 Open: Monday - Saturday 10.30 - 5.00. Sundays in summer 12.00 - 5.00. An antiques centre with a good selection of railway titles and some books on other stalls. Excellent stock of Welsh railway publications. Also railway ephemera. Other books are varied and of little interest. - Chris Harte 28.02.12.
The Junction Bookshop  73 Conway Road LLANDUDNO JUNCTION Conwy LL31 9LT map tel: 01492 581103 / 07717 471813 web Open: Monday - Friday 10.00 - 4.30, other times by appointment. Good, clean collectible and antiquarian non-fiction. Particularly travel and decorative bindings. Small shop and small well chosen stock. Modern collectable fiction and fine bindings.(one or two gems). Friendly welcoming owner. Reserve stock in back room. Combine with a visit to Bay Bookshop and Madoc Antiquarian Books. - Corso 26.10.09. Excellent small shop, plenty of quality cheap paperbacks but also good specialist hardbacks including Emmett. Friendly proprietor. - Norman Davies 24.04.10. A general bookshop with an emphasis on fiction. However, there were some good regional books on the shelves. Everything was neat with complete sets/series in their own section. - Chris Harte 09.05.11. Opening hours should be described, following Driff, as Unrel. I got off at Llandudno Junction last Saturday morning specially for the shop, only to find a closed notice on the door. - John Collins 11.08.11. Small shop with clean, tidy stock. Retail prices in line with the average. Friendly owners, but probably little for the trade.- Robert Brown 27.09.12.
The Muse (Books And Music)  43 Holyhead Road BANGOR Gwynedd LL57 2EU map tel: 01248 362072 e-mail Academic bookshop, mainly NEW stock, mainly non-fiction. Owner says he caters mainly for the local college/university. - The Wanderer 27.11.09
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