A (wanna-be transplant’s) Journey Through NYC Bookshops
Travel hacks and need-to-knows have made it easier to navigate new destinations looking slightly less like a tourist, and more like a wanna-be transplant.
While only spending a week in a city that I absolutely adore - it was still impossible to hit every bookshop across all five boroughs. Manhattan and Brooklyn alone are home to most of the bookshops listed below (for geographical and commuting purposes this is important - don’t be like me, be better). Here are five of several bookshops that I completely lost myself in during my bookshop exploration:
(Loving a photo? Click one to be directed to each bookstore’s Instagram.)
The selection in this Brooklyn bookstore seemed absolutely endless. Shelves curved through the store and the tables were stacked with new and notable picks! A bookworm’s dream.
Perfectly situated in the Garment District, it delivered on its dramatic front. With stories already winding through my mind, the store’s design brought it to life with books traveling directly above me throughout the store ending in a creative explosion.
Whether you identify with Serena or Blair, you have to visit the upper east side to check out The Corner Bookstore. The booksellers and customer service matched their impressive collection.
I purchased my first book on my trip from the Lexington Ave Shake & Co location. Perusing the shelves here was pretty seamless and I couldn’t get enough of the quirky, inspirational literary novelties.
Author Emma Straub and her husband co-own this bookstore located in Brooklyn. My favorite part of this store was the children’s section. Designed with the young reader in mind, with nestled book nooks and space to read in the store.
Time escaped me and I’m inclined to blame it on a “New York minute”, however there are three incredible bookshops/markets that I missed during my visit:
Located in Brooklyn, this is a unique vintage shop representing the richness of Black culture. (IG: @blkmktvintage)
An extension of the Playground Coffee Shop, located in Brooklyn, that prioritizes the work of Black, Indigenous, Brown, Latinx, API, Queer, and Trans+. (IG: @playgroundannex)
An intersectional feminist community bookstore and coffee shop, also located in Brooklyn (IG: @cafeconlibros_bk)
It sounds like I missed all of Brooklyn— (sobs internally) this is partially true and painful to admit. The benefit of modern times is that we can still support each of these shops by purchasing our most anticipated reads, collectibles, and merch from their online shops.
Unless we’re all ready to buy flight tickets…👀