Usually my mom, my dad, 3 brothers and I go overboard with our Christmas gift-giving - we love to give each other gifts and we love to give gifts that are a little more expensive than necessary. As we've added family members with girl/boyfriends and spouses, the spending has gotten massive.
This year, to curb our Christmas spending, we're exchanging used books - we're giving 1-2 used books to each family member. No other gifts allowed, no new books. We all love books and we all love to trawl for used books - so we've actually been having fun while we look for inexpensive but well-considered gifts for each other.
Here in NYC, we have a wealth of amazing used bookstores to poke around in. I'm a fan of
The Strand for most anything.
The Housing Works Book Store is another great place to browse - and 100% of profits go directly to Housing Works.
Argosy Books on East 59th is a wonder of rare and pricey old books but the outside table is always filled with fascinating bargains - usually under $10.
Outside NYC I love:
Citylights in San Francisco,
Epilogue Books in Ballard WA, and Renaissance Bookshop in Milwaukee WI (which has an outpost in the Milwaukee Airport!) - Renaissance doesn't have a website but you can read a little about it
here.
Let us know if you've have a favorite used bookstore here in NYC!
