Books and Beans
22 Belmont Street
ABERDEEN  Aberdeenshire  AB10 1JH
tel: 01224 646438  fax: 01224 646483  e-mail  website  map
Open: Monday - Saturday 10.00 - 4.30, Sunday 10.00 - 4.30.
We have over 15000 titles in stock at any one time, they’re searchable in store via our database and are all divided into categories alphabetically. The Coffee Shop specialises in quality coffees, teas, sandwiches and home-made soups.
    Close to the main shopping street and with a small to medium stock of books, a bookshop combined with a coffee shop sounds like the perfect combination - unfortunately the reality for the dedicated book hunter is somewhat less. With tables and chairs positioned in the main first floor book section you are left with all too many bookshelves shielded by customers sitting in chairs. Waitresses politely ask to get past you as you try to see the books over tables and chairs whilst trying not to listen in to the conversations of those you are hovering over. The shop's computer searchable stock list cannot really replace the browsers delight of finding an interesting looking volume on a shelf. So while the coffee and soup certainly smell wonderful, this is really a café with books for sale rather than the other way around. - Jeremy Briggs

The Old Aberdeen Book Shop
140 Spital
ABERDEEN  Aberdeenshire  AB24 3JU
tel: 01224 658355  map

Oxfam Bookshop
5 Back Wynd
ABERDEEN  Aberdeenshire  AB10 1JN
tel: 01224 642490  map
    Just off the main shopping street, this small Oxfam bookshop is long and narrow with its central shelf units angled like arrow heads towards the door. While their positioning may allow more units to be fitted in, it does not help free movement around the shop however, since they reach above head height, it means that this shop does have a surprising amount of stock for its size. - Jeremy Briggs