Books Are Magic

Novelist Emma Straub’s Cobble Hill charmer features the usual indie-bookshop amenities (trending new titles, knowledgeable staff, frequent events), plus a sizable, sunken back room primarily devoted to kid-lit. The store has become a cornerstone of the City’s literary scene, as much a neighborhood mom-and-pop as a venue for authors—up-and-coming and already famous—to launch their latest. There’s plenty here to browse, but if you’re the type who likes to be surprised, the store offers subscription services; booksellers select titles and mail them out on a monthly basis.