Books

How does anyone afford to buy books? I'll pick up a couple a year as presents, but if I were to pay for all the ones I actually read, well, let's just say it would make owning a car and smoking cigarettes (neither of which I do either) look like entirely reasonable budgetary propositions.

I ride the subway to work every day, about an hour each way. This is a lot of concentrated reading time, and I make use of it. (For details, feel free to friend me on GoodReads.) Almost all of my reading material comes from the library. Their website may suck, but the actual machinery of the hold system behind it is fantastic. I'm always up against the 30-item limit, constantly maintaining and editing the queue.

However, none of this has in any wise diminished my fondness for bookstores. I wish I could support them more, financially, but until the aforementioned library raises my salary considerably, I'll have to stick with just giving them my love. And despite Barnes & Noble, Amazon, etc, there are still some great bookstores in NY that are very deserving of it. Far more in fact, than I'm going to list here. These are just the ones that are regularly a part of my life:

The Strand
King of all used bookstores. (Except Powell's, I suppose, but I've never been to Powell's on account of its location on the wrong coast, so I can't compare.) It's a tourist destination, and rightly so, but also a tried and true local institution. Sometimes I treat myself by selling them books I don't need, and then turning around and immediately spending everything I've just made. It's also my preferred Union Square bathroom stop, being less crowded than Barnes & Noble, slightly easier to access, and generally just more awesome all around.

Books of Wonder
Not a used bookstore, but a purveyor of new ones exclusively for children, from picture board books on up through dystopia. It's only a few blocks from the Strand, and right across the street from City Bakery, so it easily slots into the tourist itinerary whether or not you have a small human in tow. There's also a small cafe, more bathrooms, and a great back area with artwork and rare editions. Take someone here on a first date, and you'll learn everything you need to know.

Forbidden Planet
The final point in our Union Square trifecta. Just a little south of the Strand, this is the place for all your geek needs. Comics, graphic novels, novels, toys/models/figurines, t-shirts. This is where my father took me as a child, while my mother went to ABC. Full disclosure: I also once worked for Forbidden Planet in Edinburgh, and I can still name all the Dragonball Z characters, despite having never actually seen any Dragonball Z.

Unnameable Books
My local, or as close as it gets. It has a much smaller footprint than any of the others, but the teetering piles of books and tall, cramped shelves make it feel even easier to get lost in. I fault them only for their very small "genre fiction" section, although I suppose that's balanced by the rather larger comics/graphic novels area. They sell some new books, but the majority are used, as is the overall feeling of the place.

BookCourt
Carroll Gardens is always a pleasant stroll, and this is one of the pleasantest stops along it. All new books, but if you'll find plenty to take note of and order from the library later.

Greenlight Bookstore
Meeting someone at BAM? Twenty minutes early? Here's the place to spend them: at another nicely curated new bookstore.

powerHouse
Since I'm not in a bookstore to buy books, browsability is pretty important. powerHouse comes through here with a lot of tables, rather than shelves, allowing books to be displayed face-up. This isn't where you come to find your next novel, but if you want to flip through a massive photo book entitled Tattooed Cyclists of Shibuya or something, it's great.

MAP

RECIPE: Macaroni & Cheese. Make it this way once and you'll never do bechamel again.