Amazon is truly a great site with a fantastic selection of books, DVD's, CD's etc and you've probably ordered from them already. Not only can you almost certainly find the book, DVD or CD you're looking for but you'll also get excellent recommendations for similar items. Their One Click shopping option makes it dangerously easy to order more than you intended but that notwithstanding if you like reading or listening to music this site is definitely for you and it's perfect for presents as well.

This is the worldwide marketplace for rare, secondhand, signed and out of print books. You just need to know the title or the author and if it's available it'll be found immediately. You can then narrow your search to see only first editions, or signed copies, among other options. For special gifts this would be an excellent website as you can choose from a selection of real collectors items, alternatively you can simply track down that book you lost some years ago and always wanted to read again.

This is a fascinating website to browse - A National portal uniting content from more than 40 premium county, regional and city magazines ranging from Scotland to Cornwall.

It's a clever combination of the magazines themselves (plus an archive so you can have a look at the ones you've missed) which include what's going on, food and drink, local celebrity interviews and more, and reader generated content such as blogs, photographs and forums.

Whatever you want to find out about what's going on near you or where you're about to visit, you'll almost certainly find it here.

This site started off as a computer books website and has moved into general educational books and fiction. So you can buy the latest John Grisham alongside Selected Papers on Particle Image Velocimetry. The site is very clearly laid out and you can see exactly what's in stock or on limited availability. Some of the discounts are very good. Standard delivery is 1 - 2 days and is free on orders over £25.

Hatchards, booksellers since 1797, is the oldest surviving bookshop in London and is now based in it's luxurious quarters at 187 Piccadilly, right next door to Fortnum and Mason. Not only do they offer a very good choice of titles in hardback and paperback, from fiction, children's books, art and architecture, biography, food and wine, gardening, history and humour but they also specialise in signed and special editions and what they call VIP's (Very Important Publications) - their recommendations for the season.

From Instyle and Esquire to The Spectator and Newsweek there's a huge variety of magazines, monthly glossies and weeklies to subscribe to here including some foreign titles.

Check out the prices and special offers on other sites as well to make sure that you're getting the best deal.

Established in 1995, Musicroom is a global retailer, shipping products out to over 100 countries, offering one of the largest selections of sheet music, song books, books about music and tutor methods in the World. At Christmas time they offer a gift selection, including Christmas music, learning guides for different instruments, CDs and instrument accessories. It really is an excellent website so if you know a young musician do stop off here