Books Are Magic
My quest to find the New York City bookstore for me continues at Books Are Magic in Brooklyn’s charming Cobble Hill neighborhood, and this time I brought my husband.*
It’s just my second bookstore pilgrimage, but I’ve quickly come to grasp the terrible truth about this project – it’s more than a little bit awkward. Here’s the gist of how my time at Books Are Magic went down:
I arrived and tried to get a feel for the place. Sounds harmless in theory, but in practice this manifests itself as self-conscious lurking, often directly in the path of people who are trying to find books.
I pulled out my camera and began endlessly and arbitrarily fiddling with settings (“feels like a tungsten kind of place to me!”) before settling glumly for one of the pre-set modes.
I took test photos and gazed sadly upon the result – dark as night, icy blue, and cloaked in shadows – before resuming fiddling, now with the help of my husband.
I began to take photos in earnest, all the while trying to quiet the voice in my head that was screaming “This is so weird! People don’t want that shutter whir in their ears while they’re trying to browse in peace!”
I tried to act subtle when people gave me quizzical glances, which basically involved pretending I was aiming the camera at something that’s not them.
Once picture-taking was complete, I purchased several books as penance (though who am I kidding? I wanted those books).
Overwhelming feelings of awkwardness aside, I really do love this place. The idea for Books Are Magic began when author Emma Straub learned that her beloved local bookstore, BookCourt – where she once worked and held all five of her book launch parties – was shutting down. Her devastation quickly turned into determination to open a bookstore of her own, thereby ensuring that her bit of Brooklyn would still be served by a local bookseller. In April, Books Are Magic opened its doors on Smith Street.
The thing I like best about this store is that it facilitates discovery. Books Are Magic’s long wooden tables mix of-the-moment literary fiction with quirky, under-the-radar picks I never would have otherwise stumbled upon. This is the place I picked up Brandon Harris’ Making Rent in Bed-Stuy, Rachel Khong’s Goodbye Vitamin, and, most recently, Lynn Freed’s The Romance of Elsewhere.
And, importantly, Books Are Magic has the non-book part of bookstores down to a science. It’s coursing with a sense of community – daily events, chatty employees, staff picks, author partnerships, and more. It’s beautifully branded, with a great name, awesome merch, and a killer social media presence. And, with its mural, neon sign, and cozy interior, it’s awfully photogenic (even through an unskilled lens like mine). Bonus points awarded for the poetry gumball machine and a playlist that appears to be at least 60% Lauryn Hill.
The verdict? A true contender, will be tough to top.
*who was fresh from an all-you-can-drink birthday party at an improbably hip shuffleboard club, and therefore more enthusiastic than usual about the prospect of tagging along.