The Works

The Works is a total hit or miss shop, you can’t go in looking for something specific, rather you go in and see what you find.
Today I was hoping for some blank cards and envelopes for a Mother’s Day craft for my Brownie Unit and they came up with the goods, 50 blank cards and envelopes for £4. Bargain.
They sell a huge variety of things, from tourist tins of tablet and shortbread, to children’s puzzles and small toys. From jigsaws to arts and craft supplies. And that’s all before we get to the books.
The books, you can never guarantee what you’re going to get, it’s a mishmash of genres, and you just have to browse. They tend to be good if you want a boxed set of books, and I’ve bought a few of these as gifts over the years.
What I always go in to look for though are audiobooks. I love an audiobook in the car when I’m driving alone, the trashier ‘chick-​lit’ the better. I’ve often found (for around £1.99) unabridged mp3 cd audiobooks in here, meaning you get the full book on one disk — no stopping at inconvenient times to change cd every few hours!

I try to pay as little attention as possible to the fact that I have an addiction to buying books, I even buy books in genres that I’m not interested in just in case I have nothing to read at some point and fancy something new, but for the times where I do pay attention to my addictions, The Works is usually where I come to feed it.
Offering 3 for £5 on a huge range of books including classics and modern releases, this is a great little shop for stockpiling a new collection of books to work your way through. Don’t just pay attention to the 3 for £5 section though, have a look around at the collections, anthologies and box sets of books and DVD’s available and you might be pleasantly surprised.
Being bang smack right in the middle of Princes St, it’s understandable that a huge part of this shop is filled with cheap tartan, Edinburgh rock and boxes of shortbread but don’t let that put you off, they are also the vendors of two of the best board games available to humankind… Monopoly and Cluedo!
Sometimes it is hit and miss with The Works, sometimes you can go in and spend an scary amount of money on books and sometimes you can go in and it seems like everything that’s available isn’t worth using for tinder. I believe much of this is down to how readily available a new collection of books are available to The Works and their distribution of those items to stores but it’s always worth popping in to see what you can find.

Before you get too excited, The Works is not a quality bookstore where you will discover your new favourite author. :Sorry, guys: It’s actually a discount chain that sells discount books, stationary, art materials, toys and DVDs. I’ve never found anything I’d want in the latter sections but have to admit, I’ve spotted some great food & drink books amidst the stacks of hardbacks and paperbacks. All were priced 60−70% off the RRP and included the Wagamama Cookbook, Covent Garden Food Co — Soup For All Seasons, Levi Roots Reggae Cookbook and my personal favourite, Cupcakes From The Primrose Bakery.
At £5.99 each, I couldn’t resist buying one of the latter. Any volunteers to test the first batch?

Maybe it’s because my mum is an English teacher, maybe it’s because I love to read books, or maybe it’s because I’m a sucker for a bargain, there’s something about The Works that I find quite charming!
The staff are friendly, the books are widely accessed and the prices are reasonable. The location is great too, right in the centre of town! They sell other things too, like diaries and pens etc. It’s essentially a touristy shop, they have everything and anything.

A wonderful minefield of tat, The Works’ peculiar mix of calendars, old cookery books, cheap stationary and tartan notepads won’t often set the pulses racing, but if it’s bargains you’re into, then chances are at least one piece of guff in here will tick your boxes. This is especially true if you’re the type of person who is into biographies of Z-​list celebrities or lower dvision footballers, two much in demand genres well represented at The Works.

Located on Princes Street, The Works stocks a whole host of stuff, mainly with a Scottish theme. I popped in for a notepad and in keeping with the theme I went for a little notepad with a picture of Edinburgh Castle on it and an «I love Scotland» pen at 99p each so very reasonably priced.
They had a stack of books from tourist manuals to cookery books. I was very tempted by one that had tonnes of recipes for muffins but decided I’d probably never use it, or if I did I’d just get angry that my muffins weren’t as good as the ones in the picture. They also stock postcards, toys and various other tat but it’s good for a browse.

The Works is now as close as I can get to the now defunct Bargain Books. It is a bit of a bargain bin for generic classics, popular culture books and tacky biographies but hey, it’s cheap!
The Works also stock a range of stationary and, in the case of this branch on Princes Street, various souvenirs and postcards. It gives it an added extra that keeps the tourists happy and piling through the doors!
You’re not going to find that many Booker Prize winning novels in here but you may be pleasantly surprised. They do a great range of classics and good, interactive books for youngsters. Since it caters to a wide range of tastes you can usually find something appeasable, and all for a low price.

The Works is like a mish mash of random, cheap books, toys, calendars and art supplies with the odd tourist tat thrown in.
It is stupidly cheap and that is reflected in the crap that they sell. However it does come in handy for buying cheap books or colouring pens for my nephew. There is sometimes some good cook books in here also, as well as some quite odd books but I’m sure there is a market for it.
The shop is generally consumed by rather odd people who are peeing themselves with excitement over all the bargains and take their trip to The Works quite seriously.
I bought a friend who was in love with Kylie Minogue the unofficial calendar from here, he wasn’t too impressed.

Bookworld is just that; a world of books.
It’s no Borders or Waterstones, granted, but a wee browse around here and you might be pleasantly surprised.
I have been here a good few times and I mainly leave empty handed, but if you like a good Mills and Boon type romance novel then this place is choc-​a-​bloc full of them. I usually come here at Xmas time to pick up my Dad’s annual copy of the Broons, which they sell at a very reasonable price each year. I also picked up a few calendars too, much cheaper than I would have else where.
It is a discount book store, so it is really no frills and you get what you pay for. Sometimes that’s better though, as larger bookshops can work out really expensive.