Argosy Bookstore

This is the entrance to Argosy Books, one of the few independent bookstores left in New York City. Located on 59th Street between Lexington and Park Avenue, it specializes in rare and old books, maps and prints, which makes it somewhat immune to big store chains like Barnes & Noble and online retailers like Amazon.com that sell mostly new fiction and non-fiction books.

So what kind of books do you usually read?

Borders Bookstore

This is the ceiling of the atrium at Borders Bookstore by Wall Street in Lower Manhattan. My friend's fiancé had a meeting in the area yesterday afternoon so she and I met up at the bookstore to hang out until he was done. Then all three of us went to dinner later in the evening.

So how has your week been so far?

Strand Bookstore

This is the Strand Bookstore, the biggest used bookstore in the world. According to its website, it has 18 miles of used, new, rare and out-of-print books in its stores. Most of the books here are 50% or more off the listed prices.

Before the arrival of Amazon.com and BarnesAndNoble.com, the Strand Bookstore was the biggest mail order book company in the country. I remember browsing through their catalogues as a young college student in the early 1990s.

So have you read any good books lately? I just finished Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert recently, which came highly recommended by a co-wroker.

Librairie de France

This French bookstore, Librairie de France at the Rockefeller Center sells only French books and magazines. Even the logo for the store has that French street sign look. I hear Paris has a famous English language only bookstore called the Shakespeare & Co.

So do you have a favorite bookstore in your city?

Manhole Cover Doormat

I posted a photo of a manhole cover on Saturday and incidentally, Eliane of NYC posted a great interpretation of it on her blog. Over the weekend, I found this manhole cover doormat at the Posman Books at the Grand Central Station. Apparently, manhole covers are quite the thing in NYC. Who would have guessed?

Do you have a doormat outside your house? What does it say?