Checking City Bookstores off my List
New York City bookstores have always been my comfort zone, a sort of palliative for whatever’s ailing me at any given moment.
I’ve escaped bad work days to go browse their quiet, cozy aisles.
I’ve traded cold and unforgiving exteriors for warm and welcoming interiors.
I’ve heaved open thick wood doors feeling blah and uninspired, and left feeling invigorated and energized, arms weighed down with new finds.
I have so many sense memories of trilling door chimes, old book smells, and the sound of shopkeepers kindly calling out “Let me know if I can help you find anything.”
For years and years, there was always a new city bookstore to discover.
The dozen or so famous greats.
The neighborhood institutions.
The indie faves.
The tiny hole-in-the-walls.
The musty used shops.
The gilded antiquarian ones.
The speciality shops.
The sidewalk outposts.
Even the is-this-a-bookstore-or-a-merch-store juggernauts.
But one of the downsides of being so perennially preoccupied with the next new bookstore is that, eventually, you run out. And my once-arm-length to-visit list has gotten worrisomely short. Shorter still after this week, when I checked out three bookstores in three very different neighborhoods.
First, the Drama Book Shop. Co-owned by Lin-Manuel Miranda, designed by the set designer of Hamilton, and serving up delicious cold brew and immaculate vibes, this store has the beauty of Rizzoli, the whimsy of Books of Wonder, and the best community board I’ve ever seen at a bookstore.
Then, across the street from Zabar’s on the Upper West Side, the appropriately-named Westsider Books. This tiny-on-the-outside-soaring-on-the-inside rare and used book store has been on my radar forever, but, despite the fact that I aspire to live on the UWS someday, I’m almost never there. This place is my kind of shop and hits all three Cs of a great bookstore (crowded, character, and curation if you’re curious!)
And, finally, Topos Bookstore in Ridgewood. Emmett and I went on a Queens date earlier this week – we ate at Khao Kang in Elmhurst, walked around Forest Hills, and snacked on chocolate-covered Oreos (me) and gluten-free brownies (him) at Rudy’s. But the highlight of the day was book-buying at the bright and beautiful Topos, which was absolutely (and rightfully) packed in the middle of the afternoon on a weekday. If I lived in Ridgewood I’d be here weekly, buying dollar books and eating cinnamon rolls with the boys.
