A Review of 1804 Books

320 W 37th Street, New York, NY

I stopped into 1804 Books on a rainy spring weekday and found much more than a bookshop. The store is part of The People’s Forum, or as they call it, “a movement incubator for working class and marginalized communities to build unity across historic lines of division at home and abroad.” The bookshop portion of the Forum occupied the space closest to the front of the shop with large windows overlooking a rather quiet portion of 37th Street. It’s not a large area of the forum, but there are enough shelves and table display to keep you browsing and introduce you to plenty of books about socialist, working class, union, feminist, and anti-colonialist causes.

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A Review of the Drama Book Shop

266 W 39th Street, New York, NY

As one may have guessed from the name of the bookshop, this one focuses on all things dramatic, from plays and scripts to books examining the world of film, television, theater, acting, directing, writing music and writing for the stage, and much more. Not only is this the perfect bookshop to accompany NYC’s nearby theater district, but it’s the perfect place to hang out on a rainy afternoon, which is how I discovered the shop.

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A Review of McNally Jackson (Seaport)

4 Fulton Street, New York, NY

The main branch of the McNally Jackson bookstore in Soho is, in some ways and to many people, the ideal bookstore. But this newer location brings bookselling to another level, one I’d describe as “this is what my dream house looks like, brick walls and leather chairs and room upon room upon room full of books…with a coffee shop.” Because that’s exactly what this gorgeous location is, save for me living there. Maybe one day! But until then, this bright and bountiful bookshop is a must-see literary spot for any NYC local or visitor.

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A Review of Unoppressive Non-Imperialist Bargain Bookstore

34 Carmine Street, New York, NY

Separated by more than 18 months and a worldwide pandemic, I finally returned to New York City this June to scour for more bookshops. It was both awkward and a relief, roaming the streets and subways packed with people after having to avoid them for so long, but to do so vaccinated allowed me to enjoy that golden hour magic in early evening Manhattan, the neon just beginning to glow, the sounds of music from boomboxes in small west village parks, the rose-gold hue of the sky as the sun sets into New Jersey horizons across the Hudson. And it allowed me to discover the eclectic and wallet-friendly Unoppressive Non-Imperialist Bargain Bookstore, a throwback to a more defiant artistic culture one doesn’t always find in a city full of shallow Instagrammers and fleece vest-wearing finance bros. In fact, finding this shop felt like a perfect return to the unique experience that is book browsing in one of the greatest literary cities in the world.

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A Review of Books of Wonder (18th Street)

18 West 18th Street, New York, NY

If you’re in New York City and you’re looking for a new or classic children’s book, or you’re simply looking to take a trip down Nostalgia Boulevard, you’d be hard pressed to find a better shop than Books of Wonder. I stopped by this branch on a rainy Wednesday afternoon after running around the city all day, and it offered a very enjoyable half hour of respite from the downpour.

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A Review of the Mast Books

72 Avenue A, New York, NY

While browsing around online for bookshops on the lower east side of Manhattan, I saw this one pop up not far from Tompkins Square Park, where I figured I could take a break and read in the shade with an iced coffee. Not a bad one-two punch. So I cut my way over from the Union Square area where I’d been visiting two old favorites, Alabaster and Strand Books, and I eventually came upon this minimalist shop. It reminded me of a bookstore for an art gallery, one that straddles chic and experimental, and it used a lot of open/white space to offset its artistic and avant-garde collection.

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A Review of the Strand’s Central Park Kiosk

Southeast corner of Central Park

Every now and then I’ll bend my own rules enough to review a quirky kiosk, off-shoot, or library nook that sells books as opposed to a full fledged independent bookshop, and when I do I hope you know it’s because finding these little extras out there in the world will be very much worth your time. This outdoor “bookshop” is a satellite of the gargantuan and epic Strand Bookstore down near Union Square, but being so close to Central Park and its shaded benches, aromatic food trucks, and bright open skies reflected on rippling ponds, I wonder: is it possible that this kiosk is even better than the mothership?

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A Review of Book Culture on Columbus

UPDATE: I believe this shop is now closed for good, but I’ll leave this up for posterity.

450 Columbus Ave., New York, NY

Book Culture has a few locations throughout New York City, and the one I visited was a short walk from the American Museum of Natural History, or as I always called it, “the museum with the dinosaur bones.” A very technical and precise term. But anyway, this bookshop felt like the kind of store you’d go to in order to get a book for yourself and a gift for someone else, or vice versa. I don’t mean that in a bad way at all, because if you don’t find a book you want, there are almost as many gifts as books, about a 50/50 split, making it much harder to walk out the door without something someone in your life would enjoy.

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A Review of Books of Wonder

217 W 84th Street, New York, NY

There’s a special kind of charm that children’s bookshops have, something about the mix of nostalgia for the books you loved to read when growing up and the new books waiting for the young audiences of today and tomorrow all shelved together. I like browsing kid’s bookshops because I have nieces and nephews who like to read and a mother obsessed with Nancy Drew and shopping for them is fun, and that’s not to mention my own appetite for the books of my youth. I have a list of them on my phone that I watch out for, and you can bet I had that list at the ready when I walked through the doors of Books of Wonder.

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A Review of Westsider Rare & Used Books

2246 Broadway, New York, NY

I hadn’t wandered the Upper West Side of Manhattan in about ten years, and I mean really wander, spiraling the blocks on foot, coming into sight of Central Park before turning back toward the Hudson River, reaching squares and intersections midway where you can spin in place and see both boundaries. In that regard, the UWS really does feel like its own separate world, its own town, connected to Harlem and Hell’s Kitchen by the 1, the A, and so on. And if that were the case, Westsider Books would be the home of the literary fringe element in town, the place where hopeless poets, serious antiquarians, outsiders, punks, professors, and meticulous collectors would gather to browse and feel at home among the towering stacks of books.

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A Review of Three Lives & Company

154 W 10th Street, New York, NY

This corner shop has been selling new hardcovers and paperbacks to locals since the late 1960s, and I only stumbled across it by accident while wandering Greenwich Village looking for a different shop on my “To Review” list. I’m happy to have made the discovery, because while it’s not a large shop, it is certainly packed with an excellent selection of new books, classic titles, and unique authors. And readers as well. That was something they had plenty of.

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A Review of BOOK OFF

9 W 45th Street, New York, NY

About six years ago I worked a block from this multimedia shop, which stands within the general sphere of the Times Square area of Manhattan, and I used to make a habit of going about once a week. While it’s not my favorite bookstore, I went that often for two reasons: dollar books, and deeply discounted classic movies. I recently passed by on a NYC visit and I stopped in to see if the place held up after all this time, and it certainly does.

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A Review of bookbook

266 Bleecker Street, New York, NY

While hustling from Greenwich Village toward the Bowery section of Manhattan a sunny Saturday afternoon, I stumbled across bookbook out of the blue. (Ed. Note: They spell their name lowercased, so that’s not a typo.) I hadn’t heard of it before, despite living in the city for about five years not long ago and having walked up and down Bleecker more times than I can count. Dumbstruck by my ignorance, I walked in and found a real gem of a bookshop. Whatever you do, don’t make my mistake and overlook this place.

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A Review of Idlewild Books

170 7th Avenue South, New York, NY

There are two branches for this travel-themed shop in greater New York, but on this day I visited the Manhattan/West Village location, with its rounded corner windows turning the little store into a bright and delightful place to browse. As stated, the books are travel related, but they don’t always contain themselves specifically to travel. If that sounds confusing, I assure you, it’s a really wonderful thing.

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A Review of Chartwell Bookseller

55 East 52nd Street, New York, NY

This small shop is set off from the lobby of a polished midtown Manhattan building by a black marble hallway lined with photos of Winston Churchill, who is heavily featured in this bookshop. They sell books by him, about him, about World War II, British history, and other books Anglophiles would love. With recent films about Churchill’s era (Dunkirk and Darkest Hour, to name a couple) proving his time in power is still intriguing to us, this shop is perfectly situated to fulfill your every Churchill curiosity.  

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A Review of Logos Book Store

1575 York Ave., New York, NY

I came upon Logos as I was wandering around waiting to check into my Airbnb up in the Yorkville neighborhood of Manhattan. It was just before lunch on a Saturday and York Ave was quiet, matching the calm inside the store. I had the shelves all to myself, aside from the clerk up front, who was polite and let me browse at my own pace. There was a nice array of oil paintings hung up above the bookshelves, and the store had that old book smell with softly creaking wooden floors—I felt very much in my element.

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Bookshop Interview with Bud Smith

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Bud Smith is the author of Double Bird, Work, F-250, Calm Face, and other books of fiction and poetry, and I caught his ear for a quick moment to ask him some questions about his favorite bookshop. 

BookBook (266 Bleecker Street, NYC) 

1. How did you discover the shop?

Michael Bible told me to go there because we were drinking beer and talking about all those NYRB releases. He said that they had books in like new condition for $6 or so. It's not quite a used bookstore. It's like a major discount for like-new books. 

2. What part of the shop is your favorite? Give us a walkthrough of what it's like to browse at BookBook.

That big stack of NYRB releases is the best. It's right in the front of the store. I went there the other day and bought five of them. Past that are popular fiction titles and beyond that in the back of the shop there is literature. So you can nab Nabokov or whoever for $6.  

3. What other books have you bought there in the past?

A few Eve Babitz. A few by Tove Jansson. Fat City. Lucky Jim. 

4. What is it about BookBook that makes you love it? What really sets it apart?

I just like how good quality the books are and how cheap they are. I like that it's right outside the Christopher Street path stop so I can get there quick from Jersey City. There is a WORD bookstore in my neighborhood in Jersey City but I do not like it very much. BookBook is the shit. Codex is another really great bookstore at the far Far east end of Bleecker.

Bud Smith is the author of Teenager (Tyrant Books, 2018), Double Bird (Maudlin House, 2018), WORK (Civil Coping Mechanisms, 2017), Dust Bunny City (Disorder Press, 2017), Calm Face (House of Vlad, 2016), among others. He lives in Jersey City, NJ, and works heavy construction. He blogs in the secret underground blogging ring known as tinyletter, follow him there, oh gawd. Also, he’s on Twitter at @bud_smith. For more about Bud and his books, check out his website, www.budsmithwrites.com.  

A Review of Shakespeare & Co. Books

939 Lexington Ave., New York, NY

A weekday morning for a neighborhood bookshop could very well be a quiet affair, but Shakespeare & Co. on the upper east side of Manhattan was humming with guests on a Friday morning in March, though at that early hour, just after ten, most of the patrons were there for the coffee and pastries from their café tucked into the front of the shop. A few people took up chairs in the back to read over their steaming mugs. But I was there for the books, and there were plenty to browse through.

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A Review of McNally Jackson

52 Prince Street, New York, NY

In the heart of Soho’s cobbled streets and chic high-end clothiers, there’s an equally glossy and glass-encased bookshop that has a surprising number of works by indie authors and poets waiting within. First impressions, though, make the shop seem very au courant, with swaths of art books and large sections dedicated to photography, design, architecture, art, fashion, and other stylish topics. But until you start digging into the fiction, literature, and poetry, you don’t see the whole story.

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A Review of Housing Works Bookstore Cafe

126 Crosby St., New York, NY

Wherever you combine a used book store and a café with food and coffee, I will find you. I will find you, and I will spend time with you. I came across this shop by accident while looking for Jackson McNally in SoHo, and damn, what a cool spot! Beyond just having a huge array of used books (all donated) and a relaxed, comfortable environment, this place is extra special because proceeds from the shop support a ton of local initiatives, like those working to end AIDS and homelessness. (You can find out more at their website.) So all of us buying cool books helps fund essential causes for those in need. It's a win-win-win.

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