I Went to 25 Bookstores Last Week
These are the best bookstores in Brooklyn, according to my incredibly biased and singular opinion.
As you may know, this past Saturday was Independent Bookstore Day. In Brooklyn, that meant it was time for the Brooklyn Bookstore Crawl, an annual event hosted by The Center For Fiction in which you try to visit as many indie bookstores as you can in the space of a week.
Despite the fact that there was absolutely no prize or benefit to visiting all 25 stores listed on the bingo card (you got a coupon for visiting five), I decided to do it all, and about 65,000 steps (plus some bus and subway rides) later, I can indeed confirm for you that books are good.
To help keep all the stores straight in my head, I started writing mini-reviews of them, so I thought I might as well share them with you, my lovely readers. These critiques are of course highly biased and personal, and someone with different interests (or a child) would probably have a totally different selection.
But all caveats aside, here are my best bookstores in Brooklyn:
My Highlights
Lofty Pigeon Books (Kensington): This is arguably my platonic ideal of a bookstore: tons of recommendations with little handwritten blurbs explaining why they’ve been selected, books I haven’t heard of before but am excited to page through, interesting curations around particular themes, lots to explore on both display tables and in the stacks, enough space to browse and a true community feel. I’m glad this is the one shop I got stuck in during a random rain shower.
McNally Jackson (Williamsburg): I didn’t know there was a bookstore this big in Williamsburg! It’s an open, airy space filled with stacks that feel welcoming, not claustrophobic. The extensive fiction section grouped largely by author’s country of origin provides for interesting discoveries, and I appreciated that the classics, contemporary bestsellers and less well-known fare (even “beach reads”) were all mixed together to give them equal moral weight. Subtle little recommendation tags scattered throughout the stacks lend a helping hand, and chairs in each section allow you to peruse at your leisure. Also there were a lot of dogs there when I visited.
McNally Jackson (Downtown Brooklyn): This was my go-to bookstore before doing the book crawl, and I think it still is. The neatly laid out shelves of recommendations. The little nooks and crannies throughout the stacks that make you feel like you’ve stumbled upon a secret, especially in the second floor loft where you never know where the next turn will take you. The pair of comfy chairs up there encouraging you to stay a while and read. Good vibes all around.
Powerhouse Industry City (Sunset Park): What I most appreciated about the selection at this store was that it showed breadth but also depth: a trendy cookbooks section with a specific focus on vegan and Vietnamese cuisine, a “Pre-Instagram” photography books display, an expansive kids section and more. Plus, they have the space to put almost their entire stock on display rather than in hard-to-access shelves.
The Center for Fiction (Fort Greene): I didn’t know there was a bookstore in here! It’s got a cafe, a wide range of recommendations, enough space to move around in even on a crowded Saturday afternoon, and some great fantasy/sci-fi picks (even if that section of the stacks was very confusingly laid out).
Worth a Visit
Greenlight Bookstore (Fort Greene): I’ve been here before but didn’t remember how much of a maze it is, including a weirdly laid out kids section that meant parents with small children and other visitors were struggling to stay out of each others’ way. I did appreciate them putting together a “Tortured Poets Department” display for National Poetry Month, their literal tower of ACOTAR books, the great cookbooks section and overall solid selection of books.
The Word Is Change (Bed Stuy): From the extensive cultural theory sections to the quiet rock music playing in the background to a selection that doesn’t distinguish between new and used books, this place felt legitimately cool—without intimidating me, a person who is anything but. It also had a more adult presence than most of the other stores I visited, a refreshing change from the Park Slope kiddie-focused fare.
Taylor & Co. Books (Ditmas Park): Given that they’re one of the smallest stores I visited, Taylor & Co. has a good selection of books: a little bit of everything, with a focus on diversity (they’re Black-owned and family-run). Bonus points for the empanada stand outside.
Powerhouse Arena (DUMBO): This store is always full of books I’ve heard good things about and think I should read. It’s pretty large, well-organized, and it was the only store whose New York City section actually had books that looked interesting and not just touristy.
WORD (Greenpoint): Another decently-sized shop with a good selection of popular new releases. The most notable thing about this store was a display table near the register centered around the theme of millennial anxiety/how to do polyamory. I guess they know their audience?
Archestratus Books + Foods (Greenpoint): It’s a cookbook store! Archestratus is a great example of how to do a niche themed bookstore well; their selection includes not only books about specific types of cuisine or even specific items (I saw lots of pie cookbooks, for instance), but also food-related memoirs and fiction, food science and food sociology. I would absolutely come back here for help picking out a cookbook if I didn’t know exactly what I wanted.
Community Bookstore (Park Slope): Word to the wise: Don’t come here on a nice weekend day—there’s no room to move. As always, this is a lovely little bookstore with a nice garden, but current resident pet John Turturtle is just not quite as much of a draw as the cat they used to have.
Terrace Books (South Slope): Apparently Community Bookstore owns these guys too. This is a solid small bookstore, mostly focused on contemporary fiction, and had a good selection of new releases, standard mainstays and some surprises. Bonus points for the salesperson being super impressed by how many stickers I’d gotten.
Black Spring Books (Williamsburg): Fairly large and well-organized for a used bookstore, with lovely tall stacks, overflowing piles of books and a gorgeous backyard. Like many used bookstores, however, you’ll have to do some work to find what you’re looking for.
Unnameable Books (Prospect Heights): While not the tiniest store, it’s still on the cramped side, so I’d recommend trying to visit at an odd time. Because there’s a substantial used book section, it takes some work to go digging through the stacks, but if you’re up for that it’s definitely worth checking out.
Mil Mundos Books (Bushwick): I admittedly spent most of my time at this shop trying to figure out how there was a bookstore a block away from my old apartment that I didn’t know about, until I finally asked and learned they didn’t open until after I moved out. Despite the small footprint, I saw a variety of random books I’ve read and enjoyed over the past few years on the shelves. I can’t speak to how well the bilingual aspect of the shop works, though.
Books Are Magic Montague Street (Brooklyn Heights) and Prince Street (Carroll Gardens): While the other independent bookstores with multiple locations are listed out separately here, I’m combining the two Books Are Magic locations because they’re extremely similar—there’s no need to go to both. The two locations are large, very cute, and have a great, well-organized selection of books. That being said, even though I love recommendation cards in bookstores, this place has TOO MANY, and when they’re recommending classics like The Bell Jar and Invisible Man with the same weight as books you’ve never heard of, the endorsement starts to lose its value. If you do want to check this place out, I’d suggest going at an off time so you have time to process all those little cards.
Quimby’s Bookstore (Williamsburg): Pro: Gracie the kitty who sleeps on the radiator. Con: incense (which I’m personally very sensitive to). Quimby’s is a bookstore that seems to specialize in zines, vinyl records and tarot. In other words, extremely Williamsburg—but entertaining enough that it’s worth stopping by.
My Skips
Powerhouse on 8th (Park Slope): While they have a fantastic kids section, taking up about half of the entire store, their other offerings are much more limited—essentially a “best hits” of what I saw at the other Powerhouse locations. As a non-parent, I chalk this one up to “glad it exists, but not for me.”
Cafe Con Libros (Crown Heights): I opened the door to this store and walked into a wall of coffee aroma. In terms of the book selection, though, it seems like they’re trying to have a little bit of everything, which really meant not quite enough of anything: half of a single shelf for most topics. It seems like a great place for your daily caffeine fix, but otherwise I wouldn’t consider another visit.
The Ripped Bodice (Park Slope): My biggest problem with this store is that they didn’t seem to want to be part of the Book Crawl event at all. The clerks weren’t welcoming at all to folks who weren’t part of their target demographic (it’s a romance bookstore), and weirdly this is the only store I visited that insisted you had to buy something to get their stamp on your bingo card. I was impressed by how spacious this location is, especially in such an expensive neighborhood as Park Slope, but the bland interior and regularly spaced aisles of books gave me grocery store vibes. Which, if you like getting your romance novels at the grocery store, more power to you?
Adanne (Bed Stuy): I stepped in here and felt like I was being welcomed into someone’s apartment, but there just weren’t that many books! The vibe was more hangout space than bookstore for me.
Head Hi (Navy Yard): This was a very nice coffeeshop, but I would argue against calling it a bookstore—there were essentially enough art books to casually peruse while waiting for my chai latte. If you’re in the vicinity of the Navy Yard and are looking for a good coffeeshop (with a “no laptops” rule), it’s definitely worth a visit, but too out-of-the-way to be worth heading to otherwise.
Some general thoughts about bookstores, now that I’ve made myself an expert visitor of them:
In my opinion, given that we live in a world in which you can order any book you want online from anywhere, what’s most valuable in a bookstore is its curation and recommendations. I go to a bookstore when I don’t already know what I want to buy and am looking for something to jump out at me. Thoughtful organization and featured books are key.
Accessibility is also super important: enough space to move around even on a crowded Saturday afternoon, places to sit while browsing, stacks that don’t go too high for customers to access—and beverages are always a plus. All of these features, of course, take space and therefore money, so it isn’t surprising that they’re easier to find in less hip neighborhoods where the rent may not be quite as high.
I would much rather see a bookstore do one thing really well than try to hit every category of literature without any depth. But if you’re going to focus on a specific theme, you need to make it approachable for people new to the genre as well as long-time fans.
More bookstore pets, always.
What’s your favorite bookstore? What do you most enjoy when visiting one? Let’s chat!