Out of all the countless bookstores in New York City, The Strand Bookstore is by far my favorite one! I kept seeing The Strand bags everywhere around me, and I was wondering what the big cult is all about; until I humbly stumbled upon it and didn’t leave for 3 whole hours. It was book scavenging heaven, 18 miles of it!
The best thing about it is the variety of books and subjects, offered at much more attractive prices than their more expensive counterparts. What I take most pleasure in are the books displayed outside, priced for a range from $1 to $3. I find it to be a treasure box; if you can put up with the cold for an hour or so until you look through all the titles, you can end up leaving with a handful of lovely books, worth $10 dollars, that would have otherwise been worth maybe $100. Not a bad deal, huh? Once you get inside, you find more “normal” prices; however, most of the same books you will find at Barnes & Noble and Amazon, will still be half off at the Strand.
Besides purchasing books on any subject, the Strand also offers rental services for staging apartments, photo shoots and designing sets, creating any time period needed. It has put up libraries for innumerable prominent clients, such as the Waldorf-Astoria, Steven Spielberg and Ralph Lauren Polo, as well as for movie productions such as I am Legend, American Gangster, Law and Order and Saturday Night Live. The Strand books have been featured in many design magazines: O at Home, House and Garden and Real Simple.
Happy scavenging, guys! It is well worth it.
