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On a crowded day in New York City, there’s nothing better than finding a quiet bookstore to get lost in. The winding aisles of novels, art tomes, and magazines—especially when placed in one of the city’s most beautifully designed shops—can undoubtedly provide both relaxation and inspiration. A good book, along with an iced coffee, is all you need to feel like you’ve escaped the hustle and bustle.
Whether you’re planning a staycation this fall or simply visiting and fancy a weekend full of bookshop hopping, here are the best bookstores in New York City.
Argosy Book Store
This Midtown bookstore makes it easy to spend an entire day inside. Browse six floors containing walls and shelves full of thousands of rare, out-of-print, and used books. It’s been family-owned for three generations, since it was founded in 1925, and also specializes in antique maps. The old wooden desks, green lamps, and piles of books elegantly decorating the floors will make you feel like you've traveled through time.
Book Club Bar
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There’s something kind of surreal about walking up to a full bar where almost every single person is reading a book. Enter: Book Club Bar in the East Village, one of the most unique bookstores in the city. The cocktails, wines, coffees, and conversation are always flowing and the line to buy books on a Friday night is inspiring for any book lover living in a digital-first world. Stop by to pick up a new favorite, but stay for the company and the regular events.
The Ripped Bodice
For fans of romance novels, The Ripped Bodice is a must-visit. The entire store is devoted to the celebration of the romance genre, and was founded by sisters Leah and Bea Koch. Originally opened in L.A., the new Park Slope location in Brooklyn feels like the kind of feminine and serene literary get-away this city has been waiting for. Beyond the romance fiction, there’s a selection of giftable items from independent, woman-owned businesses.
Kinokuniya New York
With one of the best selections of fashion and art books in the city, Kinokuniya is a hidden slice of paradise in Midtown. The Japanese bookstore is divided into three expansive floors, with specialty books in Japanese, as well as manga and a vast selection of Japanese magazines that you can’t find anywhere else in the city. The top floor also has a cafe serving bubble tea, sushi, and other snacks.
Bluestockings
As one of New York City’s most unique bookstores, Bluestockings has positioned itself as a radical shop and cafe on the Lower East Side since 1999. Started as a feminist bookstore named after the group of Enlightenment intellectual women, the Bluestockings, it’s currently a volunteer-supported and collectively owned worker-owned bookstore. Alongside the books, there are also activist-centered events and conversations.
The Corner Bookstore
A charming oasis in crowded Midtown, The Corner Bookstore has been serving Carnegie Hill since it opened in 1978. Its carefully selected fiction and nonfiction titles include history, biography, travel, cookbooks, poetry, mysteries, and art tomes. The brownstone building that houses it, on the southeast corner of Madison Avenue and 93rd Street, lends the shop a very particular old New York air.
Albertine Books
In addition to the majestic interiors designed by French designer Jacques Garcia, (known for his work on the Chateau du Champ de Bataille in Normandy) the uptown bookstore Albertine Books offers up a spectacular selection of must-have titles alongside the largest collection of French-language books and translations from French into English in the United States. With support from the French embassy, the shop also packs in a busy schedule of top-tier events with authors, scholars, and thinkers.
192 Books
The massive, stunning glass windows of 192 Books display everything from art tomes to illustrated children’s books. Inside, the quiet Chelsea shop sells a curated but varied selection of books on literary fiction, film, photography, history, and even science—which you can browse through while watching people-watching through the wide windows. The shop has an artsy feel, likely due to the fact that gallery owner Paula Cooper and her husband, Henry Holt editor Jack Macrae, founded it.
Dashwood Books
For those who love photography tomes, Dashwood Books is a hidden paradise on Bond Street. Take the discreet sidewalk stairs down to the subterranean store to find rare, limited, and out-of-print photo books. Some days, you’ll ever find bargain bins located near the back of the store, with options for less than $5 a pop. Fashion designers, such as Simone Rocha, have been known to trek to the store for inspiration.
Strand Bookstore
Strand is a New York City classic for many reasons. Located near Union Square, it’s always busy, but perhaps the best place to find some peace and quiet during the scorching summer months is on the third floor, which houses extremely rare books, some of which are behind glass. Maps, art tomes, and experimental photo books by Daido Moriyama and Roni Horn are some of the options on the top floor, but the other floors (and shelves lining the store’s exterior) also sell a variety of classics, used books, and out-of-print titles.
Assouline
Since most tourists head to The Plaza Hotel for photo ops and the food hall, the gorgeous Assouline bookstore inside is surprisingly cozy and uncrowded. Along with limited edition prints, candles, and vintage objects, the shop contains massive coffee table books on everything from Ibiza to Dior. There are also plenty of smaller books on travel, art, history, food, and design, perfect for gifting. While searching the shelves, you’ll have a prime view of the infamous hotel’s lobby from the shop’s balcony.
McNally Jackson
Located in the heart of Nolita, McNally Jackson is arguably the busiest bookstore in the neighborhood. The built-in café offers a place to grab an espresso after shopping the 6,000-square-foot sales floor, which is stocked full of novels, tomes, and even indie fashion magazines.
Books Are Magic
When author and Brooklyn resident Emma Straub learned that Cobble Hill bookstore mainstay BookCourt would be closing its doors, she decided to fill the void with her own venture. “A neighborhood without an independent bookstore is a body without a heart,” writes Straub and her husband Michael Fusco-Straub on the store’s website. The charming Smith Street location is now a neighborhood institution and hosts events and readings almost nightly.
Sweet Pickle Books
For those who crave the thrill of a novelty bookshop—as well as the joy of going through piles of lovingly used books and never knowing what you might find—Sweet Pickle Books is the ultimate go-to. The Lower East Side shop sells pickles, yes, but is also full of affordable used books from almost every genre covering nearly every topic one could ever think of. The quirky branded merch is not to be missed, and one could easily while away an afternoon browsing the shoebox-sized shop’s well-loved novels.
The Mysterious Bookshop
If you love a good mystery (and who doesn’t?) you can’t miss The Mysterious Bookshop, a curated shop in Tribeca stocked floor to ceiling with new and used mystery and crime books. Think you’ve read them all, from Agatha Christie to Stieg Larsson and back again? Don’t miss the special sections of first editions, limited editions, super rare crime novels, and signed copies from the best contemporary crime and mystery writers. (The shop is also the oldest mystery specialist bookstore in America.)
Rizzoli
Legendary for its elegant atmosphere, Rizzoli’s shop tucked away in the Flatiron district is a treasure trove for book lovers. Featuring a dedicated section of New York-themed books right when you walk in, the space is beautifully arranged with great light and just the right amount of space to browse without it feeling too crowded. Head to the back of the shop an extensive selection of art, fashion, photography, and interiors tomes from the famed publisher—and so many others—all lining grand wooden shelves.
Left Bank Books
Inspired by the history of its Greenwich Village neighborhood, Left Bank Books stocks a small but mighty collection of vintage, rare, and used books on art, culture, and criticism. The space is quiet and cozy, and has the feel of a classic New York bookshop. With frequent new arrivals, you’ll find everything from anthologies by avant-garde filmmakers to first-generation punk fanzines from the ’70s and early ’80s.