Strand Bookstore

If you are a fan of the old-fashioned brick-and-mortar bookstore, then you’ll be in heaven at the Strand, on Broadway at 12th Street. The store boasts that it has 2.5 million books, or 18 miles of them. While we aren’t sure how they measured books in miles, if you are looking for something to read, you are sure to find it here on one of the emporium’s two levels. Most of the goods here are used, though the Strand also has new copies of all the latest popular releases. There is also a separate rare-book room for serious collectors in the building next door (ask at the information desk for directions). The Strand also hosts regular signings and readings.

If you are a fan of the old-fashioned brick-and-mortar bookstore, then you’ll be in heaven at the Strand, on Broadway at 12th Street. The store boasts that it has 2.5 million books, or 18 miles of them. While we aren’t sure how they measured books in miles, if you are looking for something to read, you are sure to find it here on one of the emporium’s two levels. Most of the goods here are used, though the Strand also has new copies of all the latest popular releases. There is also a separate rare-book room for serious collectors in the building next door (ask at the information desk for directions). The Strand also hosts regular signings and readings.

“18 Miles of Books” is the slogan at this nearly century-old Union Square bookshop—and it’s not hyperbole. The Strand’s warren of high-ceilinged rooms contains more than 2.5 million new and used titles, and browsing for treasures here can quickly eat up most of an afternoon. The staffers are what booksellers should be: deeply knowledgeable and passionate about all things print.

If you love books, a visit to the world-famous Strand Book store is a must when you go to New York. The store is most famous for having 18 miles of books which can be overwhelming when you first walk in but everything is super organized on all four floors and you could spend hours browsing in there which is kind of a nice break when you need to get away from the crowds on the street or the summertime humidity. I love this place and hope to be back again!

When we walked into the Strand and saw the spines of multi-colored books aligned into the distance like the vertabrae of a Jurrasic fossil, I felt the regret of having traveled to New York with only carry-on bags: There would be no way to fit in the books we were about to buy. Luckily the Strand is well prepared and offers, for a nominal sum, handy tote bags emblazoned with cats and the store’s mantra: “Where Books Are Loved.” We now had our carry-on personal item. I had mistakenly been led to believe that the Strand was a clearinghouse for books and had expected to find in it books piled on tables like clothes in a discount bin. What I found instead was a bright, well-arranged, multi-leveled store filled with a mix of new and old books and teeming with attendants in horn-rimmed glasses to help guide you to whichever book you desire. My problem was less one of search and more one of decision: I literally* did not know where to begin, the fortuitous paradox of so many good choices. I settled into the the well-stocked fiction aisles and made my way down into the basement to try my hand at enlightenment, picking up along the way a two volume out of print, library-ready, hardcover of The Complete Short Stories of W. Somerset Maugham. In the age of convenient online retail shops that promise delivery within two business days there is something that cannot be matched in the experience of walking out of a great bookshop with an armful of ready to satisfy books. *Cue rimshot.

If you still like the feel of actually holding a book when you read then you can virtually spend days discovering the paper-bound treasures at the Strand bookstore. Started over 85 years ago, this family-run business today has more than 2.5 million used, new and rare books covering a wide range of topics. Photography lovers should head to the second floor where they’ll find a large choice of photo books to make them happy.