My Favorite Bookstore in New York City Is Not the Obvious Choice

It may be small, but it is mighty

It’s probably an odd thing to hear from a native New Yorker, especially one who freaked out during the onset of the pandemic not from fear of getting sick but from the sight of an empty Grand Central. I love the hustle and bustle of NYC, but I like the idea of it more than being in the midst of it. This is especially true of bookstores.

That’s why my go-to is The Corner Bookstore at 1313 Madison and 93rd Street, a Carnegie Hill staple since 1978, which I discovered in 2005 when my now 24-year-old daughter Meghan had tutoring in the area.

How would I spend my hour? I thought when I dropped Meg off for her first session.

I walked over from Park figuring I’d check out some new store called Blue Tree, considered a manicure at a salon that looked chicer than my usual haunt on York and 86th, or maybe I’d simply get a cup of coffee at the now-defunct Yura. But it was ultimately the bookstore that pulled me in.

There was irony in the fact that something so quaint had such an imposing presence. It owned the southeast corner of 93rd and once I noticed it, nothing else around seemed to register. I became a twice-a-week customer that school year, and although for almost two decades my visits have ceased to be so regimented, I remain a loyal client.

As Manhattanites, we often think of Central Park as our backyard. Similarly, I consider The Corner Bookstore my study. It’s about the size of my living room and dining room combined. They don’t carry “everything,” which is fine since I don’t want or have time to read everything, just “the best of the best,” as they tout on their website. The current must-reads are on display right in the center of the store, with specific genres stationed along the walls.

There are only two seating areas in the entire place: two park benches on either side of the entrance. I don’t know why, but just seeing them when I walk in comforts me. Sometimes I sit down for a minute or two before I give the aforementioned middle cases the once-around. I feel grounded in those moments. And it’s quiet (insert sigh of relief ), giving peace to shoppers and a well-deserved reverence to the books.

There was irony in the fact that something so quaint had such an imposing presence. It owned the southeast corner of 93rd, and once I noticed it, nothing else around seemed to register.

I go to The Corner Bookstore when I know what I want to support a brick-and-mortar establishment, as well as experience buying a book from literary types who seem to have actually read their stock.

Simply being there makes me view myself as not only a serious reader but a serious writer. Long ago, before I had my first of three novels published, when I was beginning to peddle my essays to newspapers and websites, I decided that someone legit, who was thoughtful about her/his craft would buy books from this place.

However, most of the time I visit because I have no idea what I want. I just know I want to read “something,” and need a recommendation. I’ve had the pleasure of discovering both titles and authors I’d never heard of. There have been times I didn’t even have to wait to get inside, as the store’s window displays serve as good points of reference; such as the time I spied Susan Minot’s Why I Don’t Write And Other Stories. The title spoke to me through the glass, because I was having trouble writing at the time.

I hurried in as though it were the last copy on earth.

“The Minot in the window, where can I find it?”

I fully expected someone to ask where the fire was.

“It’s the last one,” said the bookseller. “I’ll get it for you.” (FYI: it ended up being a signed first edition.)

As he headed to the front and slid the glass doors to retrieve it from the window, another patron gave me a respectful thumbs-up. “It’s wonderful,” he said. This seemed like a reference to the book and the bookstore itself.

I was once again reminded, as I have been over the years, that not only would I always find a great read at The Corner Bookstore, but also my people.

Lorraine Duffy Merkl is the author of the upcoming novel The Last Single Woman in New York City, to be published by Heliotrope Books in Spring 2022.