Hi friends! At the beginning of this month I visited my best friend in the NYC area, and aside from seeing some Broadway shows (yes, we did see & Juliet twice within 24 hours), we visited a lot of bookstores. Therefore, I thought it would be fun to tell you about the bookstores we visited and what I bought!
So get comfy, grab a snack and/or your favorite beverage, and let’s talk about all six of the bookstores I went to over Labor Day weekend!
I heard about Albertine Books a few weeks ago, and the second I heard about it, I knew that I had to go. I’m not a fluent or even semi fluent French speaker, but I do love the French language and general French aesthetics (which I’m sure stems from the fact that I am French), so I really wanted to visit this store, especially since it looks so beautiful! I mean…look at that ceiling! It’s insanely stunning both in photos and in person.
The coolest thing about the Albertine Books (aside from that ceiling. I truly will never be over it) is that it’s inside of the historic Payne Whitney Mansion. The Payne Whitney Mansion serves as the headquarters for the Cultural Services of the French Embassy — it is such a beautiful space. I was in awe when we walked in, I could’ve spent hours alone in the lobby looking at the marble floors, dome ceiling, the pillars and the statue of Young Archer. Everything about the space spoke to elegance and opulence, it was almost a little intimidating.
The bookstore itself feels very comfy and cozy — they have tables filled with French to English translated works, floor to ceiling shelves with books in French and English, and multiple places to sit and curl up with a book. I really loved the whole vibe of the store and could’ve spent a very long time there!
I won’t lie, I had been hoping that I could find a French edition of Les Misérables to add to my collection, and sadly, I did not — they did have The Hunchback of Notre Dame but I already have the seasons edition of that one so I didn’t feel the need to buy another copy. I did however pick up a translated copy of The Lady of the Camellias by Alexandre Dumas Fils, which was very fitting because it turns out that this is the book that inspired Moulin Rouge, and we were seeing Moulin Rouge that evening. This book definitely sounds very interesting and I’m looking forward to reading it!
Hello, I would like to introduce you to my newest obsession, Sweet Pickle Books! Yes, it is exactly what it sounds like — a bookstore that also sells pickles! Sweet Pickle Books is a used bookstore where you can donate books and records in exchange for pickles. Honestly, it’s a pretty sweet deal,.While we weren’t able to donate any books (they only accept donations on Tuesdays and Wednesdays), we did get pickles and they were in fact delicious.
I love walking into a used bookstore seeing that it is just absolutely packed with books — on the shelves, in carts, in stacks on the ground, books were everywhere. I loved that it was so full, there isn’t a whole lot of open space, it’s pretty cramped, but I think that makes the store feel lived in. There were giant plants, a great playlist and jars of pickles used as bookends on the shelves, literally, what more could you ask for?
I also loved that they had old Mary Kate and Ashley VHS tapes, CDs, records, and a giant pickle costume sitting on a chair — the vibes were immaculate, honestly. They also had really cute merchandise and I’m kind of kicking myself for not getting a shirt or a bag or something, so I’ll either have to order something from online or make another trip next time I’m in the city…
I didn’t end up buying anything here, but they did have a gorgeous edition of Anne of Green Gables and if I did not have 3 editions already, I probably would’ve bought it (I’m trying to be better about not buying every possible edition of my favorite books, I should be commended, really!). Sweet Pickle Books is so much fun and 10/10 would recommend going if you get the chance!
The Ripped Bodice is officially my new favorite bookstore, and I am VERY upset that the closest one to me is the original store in Los Angeles — while I may be in the state of California, I am nowhere near Los Angeles, so you feel my pain. If I could go to The Ripped Bodice every day, I would, I just loved everything about it. It is just as stunning in person as it looks in photos and it truly just has the BEST vibes — everything about it is stunning. The walls are filled with books (did I look closely and try to figure out what books were on the walls? Yes. Did I succeed? With a few!), there are flowers and pink everywhere, and it is exactly what it promises — romantic!
The store is laid out so well, I think that they did a great job of setting up the store and utilizing their space. It’s full but it doesn’t feel cramped at all, and it’s so organized and easy to navigate. At the back of the store they have another gorgeous sign and arm chairs that you can sit in and read — fair warning though, those things are far lower to the ground than I thought they were and it was not easy to get up lol. I know that I missed a lot when I was there because there was so much to see, so I definitely want to go back and spend some more time there. Since it’s in Brooklyn, it’s a bit of an adventure to get there, but it’s absolutely worth it!
I love a bookstore that has specific merch, and they have the CUTEST merch! The tote bags? Trope tea? Wooden bookmarks that you can customize? Stickers? Shirts? They’ve got it all! I ended up buying a Pride and Prejudice tote bag (it’s SO cute!) and the “why talk when we can pine?” trope tea which is raspberry and rose and I can’t wait to try it. I may have to get a shirt and/or a hat online because they’re so cute, and I definitely thought about buying a shirt when I was there.
Now onto the books that I bought at The Ripped Bodice. Well…to be honest I feel like I blacked out there. I knew that this would be the store where I bought the most things, and I kind of just let myself go crazy, but you know what? *Philippe Arroyo voice* No regrets!
I had hoped that I would be able to pick up both Accomplished and Ghosted by Amanda Quain here because while I had ARCs of both, they are SHOCKINGLY difficult to find, especially for Wednesday Books, and I was able to pick up a copy of Accomplished! I had asked for Hope is the Thing with Feathers by Emily Dickinson for either my birthday or Christmas and didn’t get it, but I happened to see a copy of it as I was getting in line, so obviously, I had to grab it. It only made sense to pick up Rachel Lynn Solomon’s latest Business or Pleasure at a romance bookstore (I read it on the plane ride home and loved it) and Helena has been recommending By the Book by Jasmine Guillory to me for a while now and this seemed like the perfect time to get a copy! Lastly I picked up a copy of Michelle Quach’s latest, The Boy You Always Wanted, which I’m definitely looking forward to. So, yes, I maybe went a little bit overboard but you know what, it was worth it!
If I tell you that 90% of the reason why I wanted to visit Books Are Magic is because of the mural outside would you be surprised? No, you wouldn’t be, because I love stuff like that. Anyway, Books Are Magic really had a great vibe to it. It’s absolutely packed with books and I love any bookstore where the shelves are practically overflowing.
Books Are Magic had the most lovely cozy feel to it — between the stacked shelves, the tables filled with books and the little reading nook in the children’s area, there was just a very comforting vibe in the store! I don’t know what it was about the shelves, but it just felt like they were SO stuffed! I could’ve spent the whole day looking at the shelves.
As I mentioned with The Ripped Bodice, I love any bookstore that has specialty merch, and I just about died when I saw those baseball caps that say “Books” — the back says “are magic”, and then I spotted a purple one so I obviously had to buy it and I love it.
Right away when we walked into the store on one of the tables I saw a signed copy of Masters of Death by Olivie Blake and you can bet that I snatched that one up right away! I’ve been seeing this book everywhere, and I will definitely read anything written by Olivie Blake.
No trip to New York for me is complete without a visit to The Drama Bookshop. It really is one of my favorite places in the city, and for any theatre fan it truly does just feel like home. I love the aesthetics of the store — Broadway scenic designer David Korins (Beetlejuice, Bandstand, Dear Evan Hansen, Hamilton, Bring It On, and Here Lies Love, to name a few of his shows) designed this new location that opened in 2020, and it is perfect. The string of books that run through the store is so gorgeous and creative, and honestly, that alone I could stare at for hours. I also love that they’ll have displays with various Broadway memorabilia and other little trinkets, it’s so fun to look at!
I had a long list of plays that I was looking for — all plays that are either Shakespeare retellings or inspired by (yes, this may be for an upcoming post) — and while they didn’t have all of the plays I was looking for, they did have one of them, and I ended up leaving the store with a new shirt and five plays. I bought Shakespeare’s R&J an adaptation by Joe Calarco, Ohio State Murders by Adrienne Kennedy (I’ve been dying to read this), I Wanna Fuck Like Romeo and Juliet by Andrew Rincón (the cashier said that they really loved this one and it had great monologues, so I’m very excited to read that), Imogen Says Nothing by Aditi Brennan Kapil and Death by Shakespeare by Philip L. Nichols, Jr.
I’m really looking forward to reading all of these plays and I can’t wait to visit the Drama Bookshop again!
Now, as I mentioned before, I was determined to get a copy of Ghosted by Amanda Quain during this trip because I can’t seem to find it anywhere near me. We did some Googling and it said that a Barnes and Noble not too far away had a copy in stock, so we headed over to Barnes!
You know, all the Barnes and Noble layouts are pretty similar, you know what to expect when you walk in, but that never stops that fluttery feeling you get when walking into a bookstore! While I love the coziness of small/indie bookstores, I do love the space there is in a chain bookstore simply because in the smaller bookstores I’m always worried I’m going to knock something over 🤣
It took a minute, but we did in fact find a copy of Ghosted, and I was very happy to finally have my hands on a copy! (Yes, I’m aware that I could just order a copy online, but I wanted to purchase it in a bookstore, okay) I also picked up a copy of the 4th and final book in the American Royals series, Reign. I had an ARC of Reign as well, but hadn’t had a chance to pick up a physical copy yet, so I thought it was the perfect time to get it.
Of course, we took some time to browse the other tables, including the classics table and I had to resist from buying another copy of Little Women. I really do love that cover, so it was hard to resist! It turns out that I never got my membership tote (I could’ve sworn I did, but the records don’t lie), so I also got the black tote bag and it really is so nice, I’m excited to use it!
It was a Labor Day Weekend trip filled with books and theatre, which is exactly my kind of weekend!
Have you gone book shopping lately? Where’d you go and what did you get? Until next time!
Not me sitting here cackling reliving the Barnes and Noble venture. Also dead over the “no regrets” reference.