Wednesday, July 20th, 2011

The impending closure of Borders Books at the Time Warner Center will leave only one large chain bookstore on the Upper West Side — the Barnes & Noble on Broadway & 82nd. Racked ran a list yesterday of the top 10 indie bookstores in the city that can help make up for the demise of Borders, and two of them are on the UWS:

“Uptown seems significantly more upset about losing Borders than Penn Station, and why not? The neighborhood has a literary legacy that’s been dwindling ever since Shakespeare & Co left in 1996. Luckily, Book Culture (up by Columbia) has everything an English major could want—even one who graduated years ago. While it carries textbooks, it’s also known for its wide selection of fiction and non-fiction. If you can’t drag yourself all the way up to 112th Street, try Westsider Books, a crazy mishmash of used books on Broadway between 80th and 81st. [536 W. 112th Street, 212-865-1588; 2246 Broadway, 212-362 0706]“

I don’t have any experience with Book Culture myself, but Westsider Books is a great store. Don’t be put off by its no-frills website — it’s a place to rummage, not to browse online.

If anyone has any other neighborhood bookstore suggestions, e-mail me at alerts [at] myupperwest.com and I’ll add them to the list. UPDATE: @kdahlface wrote in to say that Bank Street Books (Broadway & 112th) is a great neighborhood option for children’s books.

Click here for the full list of indie bookstores from Racked.

Filed under: Columbus Circle, Kid Stuff, Manhattan, New York City, NYC, Seniors, Shopping, Upper West Side, Upper West Side Blog, UWS No Comments »
Tags: Bank Street Books, Barnes & Noble, Book Culture, Bookstore, Borders Books, Closing, independent bookstore, New York City, NYC, Time Warner Center, Upper West Side, UWS, Westsider Books