A Field Guide to New York Bookstores

Autumn 2022 Edition

Okay so it’s true that I have been stressed about money all year, and it’s true that I’ve been letting myself buy a lot of books trying to find answers to questions that are probably hidden somewhere in my body anyway. But when I came to New York City to watch my friend Cal’s apartment, I had every intention of coming home with a stack of books tall enough to get me through the winter.

Community Bookstore - 143 7th Ave, Brooklyn

Really enjoyed my time here! The edible I had taken just kicked in when I arrived, and they let me stash my scooter at the front of the store so I could browse to my heart’s content. I was interested in the way that they categorized things! I’m skeptical of shops that don’t have a specific section about queerness, but let my guard down when I started exploring their nonfiction section - there was lots here to be excited about.

Ultimately, I picked up a copy of PUNKS - New and Selected Poems, by John Keene, which won the LAMBDA Literary Award for Poetry this year, along with Fern Finder, a little zine about identifying ferns in nature - not something I’ll be able to use any time soon, but something that should come in handy next year, and less intimidating than trying to identify Birds. Community’s section of nature and travel writing, although unused by me, was full of titles I was curious about and had never heard of. The folks working there were friendly and funny and I did end up signing up for their rewards program.

Unnameable Books - 615 Vanderbilt Ave, Brooklyn

I was pretty skeptical about this spot because they had a copy of Hitler’s book on their $1-4 for sale rack outside the shop, which felt to me in poor taste - I think my opinion about Mein Kampf is that if you have a used copy of it in your bookstore, you should just throw it away. I hemmed and hawed about whether or not I wanted to shop there until I had been browsing their shelves for ten minutes already.

Indecisiveness followed me through my time at Unnameable, especially when I was looking through their New Graphic Novels section. I couldn’t choose between Internet Crusader, by George Wylesol, or the very mysterious Keeping Two, which put a “beginning of the quest”-esque knot in the pit of my stomach when I picked it up. Ultimately I couldn’t resist a new book by Julie Doucet, Time Zone J, because I love everything she makes and why not indulge in something by an artist who you already love?

Playground Annex - 1114 Bedford Ave, Brooklyn

This is one of my favorite bookstores in the whole wide world and it was a pleasure to be back there checking out their new selection. Playground Annex is in the back of a coffee shop, with a super curated selection of poetry, experimental prose, and intersectional nonfiction. The first time I went there I was excited by their selection of queer and trans books, which felt a bit less prominent on this visit. But I did get to enjoy the company of my friend Zara as she and the shop’s proprietor hit it off, and still left with a stack of books half-a-foot tall - I’m especially excited about Drean of Europe: Selected Seminars and Interviews: 1984-1992, by Audre Lorde, edited by Mayra A. Rodríguez Castro, a collection of Audre Lorde’s that wasn’t on my radar yet.

Bluesockings Cooperative Bookstore - 116 Suffolk St, Manhattan

Fully in a new location, I haven’t been to Bluestockings since I was like nineteen and not queer yet. My friend Kate joined me a here, a chosen New Yorker who had never been to the shop before.

It was a joy to browse the Bluestockings shelves now that I’m unafraid of picking up titles like Transgender Marxism. I thought I might leave with a big important book about political theory - but I have a lot of unread big important political books in a pile by my bed right now (looking at you, Detritus Press). I ended up using Bluestockings as an old reliable, and got a few titles that I’ve been trying to get my hands on for ages but have never seen in real life - Man Alive by Thomas Page McBee, and Darryl by Jackie Ess - honorable mention to Trans Care by Hil Malatino which I carried around the shop with me but ultimately replaced with a few zines - Never Finish Grad School, by Erin Dorney, and Frog Ephemera — Casting Call by Finley Miller.