indie booksellers new york style

So you would think that two people who work in bookstores 5 days a week might not make visiting bookstores a priority during a holiday in New York City. Well, like moths to a flame we couldn’t help ourselves from huddling in between shelves of new and old books and combing through sale tables on footpaths. We did exercise some self-control in how many books we bought but in some cases those little bundles of word (and picture) joy just had to be ours!

Bookstore Highlights

1. McNally Jackson, NoLita
Snowflake paper cut-outs adorned the windows of this two level bookstore with an attached café. This was a classy indie bookstore (no visible x-rated material!) with articulate shelf tags of staff recommendations and a literature section classified by global region (Australia got about a 70cm shelf). My heart sang when I saw The Boat by Nam Le on the front table of highly recommended new releases and I was slightly befuddled by the Paul Auster section guarded behind the staff counter.



2. The Strand, near Union Square
The Strand Bookstore is legendary – 83 years worth of a whole of books, 18miles of books! This place is dangerous, we almost felt drunk with book overload. There are a lot of discounted titles at The Strand, so you can definitely find a bargain and signed copies abound (I scored a signed copy of The Gate at the Stairs by Lorrie Moore). Somehow we only bought two books!


3. Book Book, Greenwich Village.
A little shop with great books – I found a collection of short stories by William Trevor (Krissy at Avid was very pleased!)


4. Book Thug Nation, Williamsburg
Very cool second-hand bookstore started in October 2009 by some indie street booksellers. Literature abounds as well as freaky masks that guard the shelves. I found a really interesting journal/zine called Cometbus and the guy running the store was the friendliest bookseller we came across. We were very impressed by the table in the corner adorned with an electric kettle and masked bust offering free tea and coffee. This bookstore also has regular interesting events.


5. Spoonbill & Sugartown, Williamsburg
I think this would have to be our favourite bookstore that we came across in New York. Equipped with a fat cat to warm up your books, there was a great back catalogue and strange but interesting self-published work, including the 2010 Tits and Totes Calendar. We picked up a gem called This is Your Book, This is My Book – a book published by the bookstore celebrating their operation as an independent bookseller for 10 years with photographs of customers with their newly acquired books, writings by staff, drawings and more! There was a glass cabinet of collectable books and heaps of sale books too.


6. East Village Books, East Village
We loved the East Village for all its vintage stores and delicious cheap food, but we also loved this bookstore. Sure, the staff were a little surly but what do you expect from a shop with shelf labels that include “Anti-This Establishment”. There was also an odd shelf of ceramic figurines that just fitted in perfectly into the wonderfully eclectic collection of this bookstore. Out the back (kind of outside) is a discounted books section, there is some really interesting and expensive-ish collectable books in plastic pockets pinned to the wall facing the counter and some records too. We scored some great finds: short stories by J.D. Salinger, a near-new copy of Shortcomings by Adrian Tomine and a highly recommended film theory book on horror, called Men Women and Chainsaws.


7. Community Bookstore, Park Slope
We walked into this small, cozy store to witness a familiar scene. A lady walked in and was telling the bookseller at the counter how much she had loved a book she had bought there and that she had recommended it to all her friends. Then she proceeded to pick up book after book off the new release table asking the bookseller about each one, and being regretfully informed that the bookseller hadn’t quite managed to read all of them yet! After this we headed further into the book store to find a resident rabbit, cat and lizard alongside a comfy couch to peruse your books. It was a little messy too, which we liked!