NYC (Winter 2011): Day 3, The Strand

Shawn and I spent a big chunk of our afternoon exploring The Strand. For those who have never heard of it or been there before, it's one of the oldest and largest independent bookstores in the world, mostly famous for their huge selection of new, overstock, used, rare, and out-of-print books. Their slogan is "18 Miles of Books," which is spanned across three main floors, and an additional floor as warehouse space (that you can also explore). It's kind of overwhelming when you first go in, because you're like, "Where the hell do I start?" If you're not going in for something specific, you can end up in there for hours (like us). Everything they sell there is at a discounted price, so you can even go there to buy the newest releases and it'll still be cheaper than at a Barnes & Noble (or, Chapters and Indigo in Canada).

I finally picked up the trade paperback versions of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson (they only have the mass market versions in Canada, so I'd been holding off on buying it because I absolutely hate mass market paperbacks – they look and feel cheap), along with The New York Trilogy by Paul Auster, and 32 Stories: The Complete Optic Nerve Mini-Comics by Adrian Tomine. I wish I had had more luggage space so I could buy some more books and graphic novels, but alas, no such luck.

And, of course, I couldn't leave without some touristy goods: an awesome owl mug, the matching owl zip-up boat bag, and a tote bag that features the winner of a design contest they held. Indeed, the bags proved very useful while shopping there.