As I mentioned in a post last week, I recently headed to NYC for Book Expo America, and as with all my travels, a little bookstore exploration is a must. This time I set my sights on the Strand, a family-run indie that’s been around since 1927 and claims to house 18 miles of new, used and rare books in their store. After paying them a visit, I must say that’s entirely possible.
I strolled in on a warm May evening around 9:00, and despite the hour, many quiet browsers still circulated through the store. There’s something extra special about a bookstore at night: it has a different ambiance altogether. It slips out of its daytime bustling and settles into a quiet, consistent hum, like that of the electric lights that draw in booklovers from the darkening streets with their glow. As I walked through the doors of this remarkable store, I couldn’t help but smile. At the end of a long day, even a new bookstore in a foreign city still feels like coming home.
I tried to capture some of the Strand’s immensity on film, so let’s go on a tour together, shall we?
There are few things that get me as excited of books, but one thing that routinely does is DEALS! And when those two things collide, well, it’s really amazing my head hasn’t exploded yet. The advent of spring means yard sale season has started, and I kicked it off with a visit to a local church sale (which for book lovers on a budget, it one of the best places to score some cheap finds). Garage sales in general are great, and you should never have to pay more than $1 for a paperback (though of course I buy books from all sorts of places. These sales just let me buy MORE!). Here’s the rationale behind these particular finds:
Naked by David Sedaris: Funny guy. I already own Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, so this was a no-brainer.
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy: Probably my favourite book of all time. Yep, I said it. When I see books I love at sales like this, I tend to scoop them up so I can thrust them upon others. This one got swapped at the last KIRBC meeting.
By JK, on September 23rd, 2009 Are you sick of these yet? I hope not, cause it’s good fun to share newest finds, and it’s nice to demonstrate the kind of good stuff you can get if you look for it. This batch came courtesy of the Bookends Sale at the Toronto Reference Library. I’m a huge fan of Bookends (the regular store) for its rock bottom prices, so I thought I’d give their annual sale a try. The sale didn’t disappoint, though it was more like a mini Victoria College sale (which is this weekend, along with Word on the Street in Toronto!), with great offerings at slightly than usual prices. Though my numbers won’t be as impressive as they usually are, I was willing to shell out a bit more for good books in support of the library. And here we go again:
(Clockwise from the top left):
Long Story Short, by Elyse Friedman: Anansi makes beautiful books, and since I may be coming round to short stories, I thought, why not?
Man of My Dreams, by Curtis Sittenfeld: I was shopping with my friend Reeder (check out her finds here), and Prep (see below) is her favourite book. So I figured I’d [...]
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