The Ultimate Book Lover's Guide to New York City
Once upon a time, we read books. We don’t mean the kind you swipe or listen to. We're talking about those sleek rectangular symbols of obsolescence, with their heavenly, substantive smell of ink on paper. But years ago we moved across the country to a modest space, and it wasn’t long before we felt the draw of technology, with its promise of convenience, constant availability and ease of use. Now, aside from the occasional signed copy or special edition to add to our bookshelf, we don’t buy physical books. But that doesn't mean we don't love them. Thankfully, beneath the veneer of New York City's gotta-go culture lies an avid community of readers. Within the bustling city, you can always find quiet spots where people linger, book in hand. You just have to know where to look. Here's the ultimate book lover's guide to New York City.
Showstopping libraries
The New York Public Library's Stephen A. Schwarzman Building
You can’t talk about libraries in New York City without mentioning the New York Public Library’s Stephen A. Schwarzman building on Fifth Avenue. The Beaux-Arts beauty was built on the site of the Croton Reservoir, and architects Carrère and Hastings pondered every immaculate detail, designing tables, chairs, lamps, chandeliers and even wastebaskets. The Registered National Historic Landmark opened in 1911, and is a must-visit for any book and architecture lover. The library has the most comprehensive collection ever brought together for the free use of the public. Want to peruse a historical atlas covering 400 years of New York City history? You’ll find it here.
Among the highlights are the Rose Main Reading Room, which was lovingly restored in 2016 and received landmark status in 2017. Almost two city blocks long, it’s hard to believe such a luxurious space is available to the public. In between pages, be sure to take a moment to gaze up at the painted sky ceilings and its gilded frames.
Pro Tip: On select Fridays, the Schwarzman building also hosts Library After Hours, a themed happy hour event featuring drinks, fun performances and other activities. It’s a great opportunity to see the space in a completely new light. Just note that the event is popular and lines form far in advance, so plan appropriately.
The Morgan Library & Museum
Located in the heart of Midtown Manhattan, the Morgan Library once belonged to financier John Pierpont Morgan. (His commercial and banking institution was the predecessor to multinational investment bank and financial services company JP Morgan Chase & Co.). Built in the Italian Renaissance style, the structure housed the prolific collector’s numerous literary and historical manuscripts, prints and drawings. After Pierpont Morgan passed away, his son turned it into a public institution.
With the support of its Board of Trustees and dedicated staff, The Morgan Library & Museum now runs numerous programs and exhibits throughout the year to promote learning, creativity and collaboration. And though they are all worthy of your time, the heart and soul of this institution can still be found in the library that lies on its east side, just past the magnificent rotunda. Rows and rows of books fill the towering 30-foot space, and the library also features a large tapestry, stained glass windows and stunning painted ceilings.
Pro Tip: When visiting The Morgan Library & Museum, be sure to request its Augmented Reality tour, which is free with paid admission. The tour allows you to experience the library as it was when it opened in 1907. You’ll be provided a handheld device, and by pointing the screen to areas of the property as directed, you’re able to “see” a hidden staircase, “look into” the vault or “open” the doors to a street scene from the early twentieth century. The accompanying audio guide provides fascinating architectural as well as personal details about the library and its owner.
The Jefferson Market Library Branch of the NYPL
A Victorian Gothic architectural gem that looks more at home in a charming English town than on New York City’s 6th Avenue, the Jefferson Market Library has been a West Village refuge for decades. Originally built in 1877 as a courthouse, it has ties to some of the city’s most salacious historical events like the murder of architect Stanford White, the worker’s strike at the Triangle Shirtwaist Company, and Mae West’s arrest on obscenity charges for her Broadway play called… wait for it... “Sex”. When the city planned on demolishing it and replacing it with an apartment building in 1959, one of its champions was none other than E. E. Cummings, who happened to live directly across the street.
In 2022, the library reopened after a massive renovation. Though thoroughly modern and welcoming today, the second-floor Adult Reading Room is still fun to imagine as the civil court it used to be. And if you walk through the brick arches in the Reference Room in the basement, it’s not difficult to envision prisoners being held there on their way to jail or trial. The past is always present here, which creates the perfect atmosphere for sinking into a page-turner. On a beautiful day, don’t miss the amazing garden, which is a beautiful oasis in the middle of the bustling city.
The Central Branch of the Brooklyn Public Library
Each of the libraries mentioned here are stunning architectural gems, and it would be criminal to exclude the showstopping Art Deco exterior of the Brooklyn Public Library’s Central Branch. The building is designed to resemble an open book, with its spine on Grand Army Plaza and its two wings opening like pages onto Eastern Parkway and Flatbush Avenue. The grand portico features fifteen bronze sculptures of American literary characters and members of its community, such as Herman Melville’s Moby Dick and poet Walt Whitman. These sculptures are framed by grand columns with gold-leaf etchings, which depict the evolution of art and science through the ages.
Inside, the 352,000-square foot space carries the usual art, history, religion and technology resources you would expect to find in a library of this size. But the Brooklyn Public Library also houses a Brooklyn Collection, which documents the rich history of this growing borough from pre-colonial times to the present. It’s the world’s largest public archive for the study of Brooklyn’s social and cultural history in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Book Lover Destinations in New York City
Library Hotel
If there was ever a monument erected to books, Library Hotel fits the bill. Boasting 10 guest room floors, each thematically dedicated to a category of the Dewey Decimal Classification System--from Social Sciences to Languages, Literature to History, Philosophy to Religion and more--you’ll undoubtedly find something that will pique your interest. Take in the stunning view on the rooftop bar, escape to nooks and crannies throughout the hotel to curl up with the oeuvre of a favorite author, or, perhaps, take a whimsical walk along Library Way, the series of bronze literary plaques embedded in the sidewalk running along East 41st Street leading to New York Public Library’s Stephen A. Schwarzman building on Fifth Avenue.
Oscar Wilde
You really can’t make this up: the building Oscar Wilde sits in was once home to the Prohibition Enforcement Headquarters. Today, you can get a $450-per-ounce scotch served on its mahogany bar, which, by the way, came from a castle in Northern Ireland. In this Victorian-style eatery, they honor their namesake in myriad ways. There are likenesses of the Irish playwright all throughout the space. There are a multitude of antique clocks set to the time of Oscar Wilde’s death. But most of all, they celebrate him in their motto, “Extravagance is Always in Season”. With stained glass from Milan, hand carved marble from Vietnam, and not a single empty inch of wall space, it feels like the kind of place Oscar Wilde would have loved. Or at the very least, it feels like the kind of space his fans would love.
Book Club Bar
Book Club Bar is the kind of book club everyone wants to belong to. When stepping into the cozy space deep in Alphabet City, patrons instantly feel like they’re in a friend’s oversized living room. It is, obviously, by design. Two East Village residents wanted to build a communal space where book lovers could gather and drown out the incessant noise from the city that never sleeps. Pick up a cup of coffee and a muffin, then nestle into a shadowy nook with one of the staff’s picks. Or grab a beer and head out to the charming patio where Jason Naylor’s colorful “Read” mural serves as a cheerful backdrop for catch up sessions with friends. It’s a neighborhood spot where all are welcome.
Bibliotheque
Bibliotheque is exactly what you’d imagine from a triple-threat-combo bookstore, café, and wine bar in the heart of New York’s famed SoHo neighborhood. When you enter off Mercer Street into its brick, wood, and marble-lined, 30-seat bar section, the wafting aroma of coffee and the drool-inducing pastries (from Épicerie Boulud, by the way) are impressive enough. But the real jaw drop occurs when you enter the dreamy book-lined lounge section at the back. Floor-to-ceiling warm wood bookcases, lush couches and booths, glitzy chandeliers, and an eclectic mix of artwork play off each other to create the perfect refuge. Whether you’re there for a mid-morning cup of joe, or for a glass of wine from Bibliotheque’s expertly curated collection, it’s always better in the company of literary giants. And with nearly 10,000 books from all genres framing the room, you won’t have any trouble finding your next read.
Book Lover Events in New York City
Brooklyn Book Festival
The Brooklyn Book Festival is New York City's largest free literary festival with a keen focus on promoting readership through low or no-cost programs. The flagship Festival Day draws thousands of bibliophiles each year, but Children's Day is also one of its most popular events. Smaller “Bookend events” like salons, launch parties and storytelling nights stretch the festival out to a whole week. These Bookend events take place in different locations throughout the city, and are usually a great introduction to New York City's many fantastic bookshops.
Festival Day includes selections from the Fiction, Non-Fiction, Young Adult, Food, International, Comics and Poetry genres, so the authors and the conversations are varied. Entrance to individual programs are on a first come first serve basis, so plan accordingly. More than 300 authors participate, and all of them sign their books immediately following their program.
2024 Update:
September 22, 2024 - Virtual Festival Day
September 28, 2024 - Children’s Day
September 29, 2024 - Festival Day & Literary Marketplace
Rainbow Book Fair
Rainbow Book Fair is the largest and longest-running annual LGBTQ+ book event in the US. Since its inaugural fair in 2009, the event has attracted readers, writers, publishers, editors, agents, and members of the media from across the country and around the world to celebrate queer culture and enrich and broaden their lives through the medium of LGBTQ+ books. The Rainbow Book Fair boasts hours of panels, performances, poetry readings, and storytelling.
Pro Tip: The event is free with a suggested donation of $3.
2024 Update:
April 20, 2024
BOOKTHEWRITER
Extraordinary opportunities and unparalleled access are two of the many privileges afforded NYC locals. Imagine a pop-up book club, hosted in private homes in Manhattan and Brooklyn, in which the author of the monthly selection directly interacts with a small group of twenty. That’s BOOKTHEWRITER. Participants have found themselves sitting on a living room couch across from famed New Yorker Cartoonist, Roz Chast, and actor, comedian, and writer, Steve Martin. They’ve heard bestselling author Rebecca Makkai talk about what inspired her to write The Great Believers, her gut-wrenching novel set against the backdrop of the AIDS epidemic in 1980s Chicago.
The book club is run by Jean Hanff Korelitz, an accomplished novelist herself, which in itself promises a unique book club experience. Though the in-person group size is still limited, events are now also streamed on Zoom, allowing more people into this exclusive club. Events draw both repeat members (you land on a Priority List after attending your first pop-up) as well as new fans. BOOKTHEWRITER announces its line up twice a year, in January and August, for the subsequent six month schedule. Registration to attend in-person is $40 and $25 online. Join their mailing list to see which of your favorite authors land in your inbox.
Quintessential New York City Bookstores
How can you narrow down a list of bookstores in New York City, when you have every iteration imaginable? From tiny independent bookstores like Three Lives & Company to multi-generational multi-story behemoths like Argosy, there’s an option for every book lover’s mood. Then there are those unique specialty bookstores in NYC that beckon you down the most magical rabbit holes. Here are a few New York City gems where you can easily while away a few hours:
Strand Bookstore
The Strand is on every New York City bookstore list worth its salt, and that’s because The Strand is a New York City institution. It’s like shopping at Saks, or getting a Nathan’s Famous hot dog at Coney Island. Family owned and operated, The Strand occupies a corner on 12th St and Broadway in Union Square. Scour through the 2.5 million used, new, and rare books, in the company of all the other New York City book lovers.
Center for Fiction
The Center for Fiction is the only nonprofit literary organization in the U.S. solely dedicated to celebrating fiction, and you can find more than one way to get lost in its new 17,000-square-foot home in downtown Brooklyn. With a cafe, bar (replete with literary-themed cocktails, of course), terrace, auditorium, and 70,000-plus fiction titles, plan to stay a while.
Albertine
A haven for Francophiles, Albertine is devoted solely to books in French and English. Located in a historic manor on Fifth Avenue just a stone’s throw from the Met, the bookstore carries thousands of titles from 30 French-speaking countries. Its hand-painted ceiling mural of constellations, stars, and planets--modeled after the ceiling of the music room at the Villa Stuck in Munich, Germany--is an Instagram favorite.
Rizzoli
The Rizzoli bookstore on Broadway is humble compared to its prior homes, but it still carries the air of an established bookseller. The Fornasetti wallpaper and quirky chandeliers create an incredible backdrop for its eye-catching selection. It’s the perfect place to shop for unique coffee table books.
Books are Magic
When author Emma Straub’s neighborhood bookstore was closing down, she decided she could either move, or open her own. And that's how Books are Magic was born. It’s a cozy neighborhood independent bookstore in the truest sense of the word. Pop by for the warm and fuzzies, and don’t forget to take a picture under the street art sign.
Conclusion
In the early days of our relationship, sharing our favorite books was an important part of getting to know each other. They reflected what we valued, what moved us, what we dreamed of. We know it sounds nerdy, but sharing the seminal books that laid the foundations for our understanding of the world was an incredible gift we gave to each other. It was a coded communication: “If you really are interested in me--in what I think and what I believe--read this and you may begin to understand me."
In the many years since, our romance with books has never quite diminished. Sure, the way that the general public consumes the written word has clearly changed over time and many have mused that the written word is dead. But in New York City, where change is constant and the chase for all things new and sparkly becomes an unconscious obsession, some things, thankfully, stay exactly the same.
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