BOOKSTORE TRAVELS
For Part 1 of “New York—A Booklover’s Dream” click here.
BOOK CULTURE
Multiple Locations
https://www.bookculture.com/
Book Culture was founded as Labyrinth Books in 1997 by current owner Chris Doeblin and his partner at the time Cliff Simms. In the summer of 2007, Book Culture became a completely independent company when Doeblin bought out his partners. From their website:
“At Book Culture, we know that reading enriches lives, families, and communities. To us, books and publishing are cultural treasures to be kept in trust by those that recognize the value that they hold. To ensure a vibrant and diverse future for books and publishing, a multitude of independent bookstores – each selecting titles based on their own tastes and interests, and those of their local customers, is essential. We are here to offer book shops where you can browse and discover the widest range of publications in the arts and humanities that realistically be carried and we have created spaces for extensive representation of new books in areas you will not see elsewhere.
We fulfill the essential role of being an independent source for ideas and literary art. A visit to one of our stores will energize your mind and remind you of the awesome scope of positive human intellectual and literary endeavor.”
Book Culture has a wide selection of great books, and a large bookshelf filled with beautiful New York Review of Books publications. Their website is worth perusing; they have a great blog, a rich calendar of upcoming events, and lots of sales and book features. It’s just a great place to go book browsing (and buying!).
RIZZOLI BOOKS
https://www.rizzoliusa.com/
1133 Broadway at 26th Street
Rizzoli Books is probably one of the most beautiful bookstores I have ever been to! It is widely considered one of the foremost independent booksellers in America and specializes in literature, photography, architecture, interior design, culinary, and the fine and applied arts. The bookstore also stocks a selection of Italian, French and Spanish-language fiction and non-fiction literature, a unique find in New York City.
Rizzoli Bookstore also maintains satellite branches in Eataly New York Flatiron, Eataly New York Downtown, Eataly Chicago, Eataly Boston, and Eataly Los Angeles with a focus on culinary titles.
We visited Rizzoli on our last day and sadly, did not have much time to spend there. However, I have been checking out their website and I see many future purchases to come!
IDLEWILD BOOKS AND LANGUAGE CENTER https://www.idlewildbooks.com/
170 7th Avenue South, at the corner of Perry Street
Idlewild is an independent New York bookstore and language school with locations in Manhattan and Brooklyn. They specialize in travel books and language classes. We visited the Manhattan location; the Brooklyn location has language classes only. The name Idlewild was taken from the original name for New York International Airport, which was renamed JFK in December 1963.
Idlewild is a charming, well-curated, beautiful store. I browsed for a long time, and ended up buying “A Cook’s Tour” by Anthony Bourdain.
McNally Jackson
https://www.mcnallyjackson.com/
Multiple locations
From their website: “McNally Jackson is an independent bookstore in New York City. We aspire to be the center of Manhattan’s literary culture: witness our events, our two floors of books, our engaged staff. Not to mention our bustling café because what, after all, is reading without coffee? Yes, we arrange our literature by nation, but we’ll be glad to help if you find yourself lost amongst the Europeans. (We sell travel guides, too.)”
I didn’t take any pictures there, but they have a great Instagram page! They also have a jam-packed calendar of events as well as “McNally Jackson @ The Shed”, a new arts-focused shop in the lobby of The Shed. The Shed is located where the High Line meets Hudson Yards, adjacent to 15 Hudson Yards and bordering the Public Square and Gardens.
Well, that concludes “New York—A Booklover’s Dream”. Thanks for reading and look out for my next post on…..
