Illustrations by Lyndon Hayes

Jonathan Franzen
“A couple years ago I stumbled across Logos. It’s easily overlooked or mistaken for a Christian outfit, but it had the Henry Fielding and Primo Levi I was needing that day.”

Jhumpa Lahiri
“I’ve already come to think of Greenlight as an extension of my home. Everyone knew Fort Greene needed a bookstore, but I don’t think anyone dreamed it would be as perfect a place as this.”

Colum McCann
“If I had to choose from Housing Works, the Corner Bookstore, Crawford Doyle, Three Lives, 192 Books, or the Strand, I’d pick them all. I’d smash them together and give all the books a chance to flirt in a new neighborhood.”

Jonathan Ames
“BookCourt allowed me to have a professional knife-thrower, Throwdini, throw knives at me before a reading I gave last year. Not too many bookstores would have the guts to let an author possibly die on the premises.”

Sam Lipsyte
“Book Culture is a browsing paradise, and on certain days (okay, most days), when my head is full of stale nonsense, a perfect place to hide and revive.”

Gary Shteyngart
“No matter where I move in the city, McNally Jackson seems to be right around the corner. It’s got the sweetest staff, and the selections are very tasty.”

Jacqueline Woodson
“Sadly, white-owned independent bookstores still seem to underrepresent authors of color. So I trek to Brownstone Books in Bed-Stuy, where I can find the latest book by David Benioff or Coe Booth.”(409 Lewis Ave., nr. Decatur St.;718-953-7328 )

Nathaniel Rich
“BookCourt is a fantasy of what an independent bookstore can be: friendly, well-lit, well-stocked, and filled with beautiful people wearing glasses.”

Related:

• Articles by Kat Ward
• Table of Contents: Aug 9, 2010 issue of New York | Subscribe!