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Monday, July 4, 2011

101 Places to See Before You're 12 - An Antiquarian Bookstore

An Antiquarian Bookstore

When I was in high school my mom and I loved to explore used bookstores.  My 11th grade English teacher handed out the Brown University classic books list (that I still have!) and I attempted to read quite a few.  The boys may have been in 1 or 2 small used book stores over the years, but I knew we'd find a good one in NYC, and I knew they'd enjoy it.


We spent a day touring SoHo, Tribeca, and Chinatown.
In SoHo is a popular used book store called Housing Works.

I really loved the lay-out and wood working in the store.



The store is staffed mostly by volunteers and has a little cafe as well.
We recommend the banana chocolate chip bread.

Loved this wall of books!

A view from the cafe

Evidently the boys also enjoyed the store.  We all could have stayed another hour or two and just perused.

From the Book:
#11 - An Antiquarian Bookstore
A good used or antiquarian bookstore is a place where you can spend hours rooting around and never know the time has passed.  Pick up any book from the shelf that looks interesting, and you're off on a time-travel adventure - look at the pictures of the funny way people used to dress; read a few lines and see how differently people used to think and write.  See old maps about what life would be like in the future (we were supposed to be living on Mars by now?!).  Some antiquarian bookstores even have books that are hundreds of years old that they'll let you look at (very carefully).  And (unlike a library) if you find something really special, you can take it home to keep.  Use your local phone directory to find a store near you.

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