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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQS);faqs.184



Evanston:
    Great Expectations (911 Foster St near the El tracks, a couple of
        streets north of Emerson just east of Sherman).  "It's an
        interesting place with easy chairs and cats scattered
        around.  I once overheard the proprietor tell a potential
        customer that the book the customer wanted to order was too
        easy to find.  Better bring along your checkbook though; it
        ain't cheap."
    Bookman's Alley (in the alley at the rear of 1712 Sherman Avenue).
        Roger Carlson has taken three large rooms that used to be
        a workshop or warehouse and converted them into a pleasant
        and fairly spacious old bookland.

Others:
    Aspidistra (N. Clark).  HUGE warehouse of used and some new books.
        Cheap.
    Borders Bookshop (near Rte 83, 1/2 mile N. of the shopping
        center in Oakbrook).
    Barbara's Books (one on Broadway about 2 blocks south of
        Belmont, and one on Wells in Oldtown across the street
        from the adult theaters and bookstores).
    Rizzoli (in Water Tower).  "I always feel underdressed when I go
        in there." The Unabridged Bookstore (Broadway a block north
        of Belmont)

There is also a book compiled by Lane Phalen, THE BOOK LOVER'S GUIDE TO
CHICAGOLAND, ISBN 1-880339-06-4, $14.95) which covers over four hundred
bookstores in the Chicago area.

============================================================================
Denver, CO:

The Tattered Cover (2955 East First Avenue, Denver CO 80206,
    1-800-833-9327, tdd/v [phone]).  Huge--4 floors.  Over
    400,000 books in stock.  Considered to be the best independent
    bookstore in the U.S.  Also does mail order to anywhere. Free
    giftwrapping.

============================================================================
Houston, TX:

All Books (Richmond at Greenbriar).  Used bookstore with reputedly good
    natural science selection.
Booked Up (Studewood at E 7th).  Used bookstore with good liberal arts
    selection.
Bookstop ('Alabama', S Shepherd at W Alabama).  A large branch of a growing
    discount chain.  Located in what used to be an old movie palace,
    it's a fairly good general bookstore, particularly popular
    non-fiction.  Fiction genres (esp. sf and mystery) can be mediocre.
    Open til midnight.
Bookstop ('Sharpstown', Bellaire at US-59).  A smaller branch of the chain.
    Same sort of selection but the sf section is somewhat better.
Brazos Bookstore (Bissonet btw Kelvin & Morningside).  Eclectic, but known
    as a literary place, with readings.
Brentano's (Westheimer at S Shepherd).  A large, generic bookstore but much
    more pleasant than most, as armchairs and a coffee machine are to be
    found. Good children's and history sections.
Brown Book Shop (San Jacinto at Bell).  Good for science and technical
    stuff.
Detering Book Dealers (Bissonnet at Greenbriar).  A used bookstore, but for
    literary and rare stuff.
Future Visions (US-290 at Mangum).  Relatively speaking, the Houston source
    for sf and horror.  Due to financial troubles c. 1990, the
    selection has been broadened to include techno-thrillers and the
    ilk.  Author signings every month or so.
Half-Price Books (University at Kirby).  A large branch of the used
    bookstore chain. Pretty good Texana section.
Half-Price Books (Waugh at Hyde Park).  A moderate-sized branch.
Majors Scientific Books (S Main at Dryden).  Good for computer books and
    science texts, *especially* medical tomes.
Murder By the Book (Bissonnet at Morningside).  The Houston source for
    mysteries, especially new stuff. Author signings almost every week.
Nan's Game HQ (US-59 at S Shepherd).  A game and comic shop, but it has a
    rack of new sf, though heavily infested with official D&D pablum.
Rice Campus Store (Rice campus).  Avoid unless looking for something written
    by a Rice faculty member.  Textbooks are expensive and there's not
    much else.
Spectrum Bookstore (Westheimer at Augusta).  A generic bookstore, but a good
    place to hang out while you wait for a movie to start at the
    THX-equipped theater next door.
Third Planet (Bissonnet at Kelvin, preparing to move).  A comic and game
    shop, but they do maintain a very large rack of new and old sf
    books.
Univ Houston Cougar Bookstore (UH campus).  A large campus bookstore,
    usually cheaper than the Rice store.
Univ St Thomas Bookstore (UST campus).  Reputedly good for literature.

============================================================================
Minneapolis, MN:

Uncle Hugo's Science Fiction Bookstore and Uncle Edgar's Mystery Bookstore
    (2864 Chicago Av S).  Good selection of SF in the front (Uncle
    Hugo's), with the back (Uncle Edgar's) for mysteries.  They have a
    nice newsletter with upcoming releases.  Bargain hunting galore in
    the used stacks.

============================================================================
New Haven, CT:

Arethusa Book Shop (87 Audubon).  Used books, first editions, collectors
    items.  Most are fairly expensive.
Atticus (1082 Chapel).  A rather ho-hum selection of new books.  Its
    virtues are that it's open late (a rarity in this area) and has a
    cafe on the premises.
Bryn Mawr Book Shop (56 1/2 Whitney).  Cheap used books.  Good for picking
    up some light reading (most paperbacks are $.25 apiece).  Open
    limited hours.
Coventry Books (75 Whitney).  Used books, mostly nonfiction or scholarly.
    Also some remainders.  "My personal favorite of the bunch."
Whitlock's (17 Broadway).  Used books on all subjects.
Yale Coop (77 Broadway).  New books, large full-service bookstore.  They
    also have one corner set aside for used scholarly books.

============================================================================
Philadelphia, PA:

Book Trader (501 South St.) The biggest used book store in Philadelphia
    that I know of.  They also sell black & white posters, used
    records, and have a tiny gallery upstairs.  Open every day till
    midnight.
Hibberd's Books (1310 Walnut St.) Sells new, used, and rare books.
    Interesting item in this store is the bag of books in front of the
    store marked "take a chance, change of your life" filled with used
    books that are unknown until it is opened.
Whodunit? (Chestnut--whatever the main street is--around 20th).  Major
    mystery store, mostly used, some new, excellent supply for
    Sherlockiana for those who care about such things (like me!).

And a couple of people write:
"I recommend the "Chester County Book Company" in West Chester, PA (~20
miles or 50 minutes by bus west of Philadelphia).  They don't seem to
turn over their stock as much as most bookstores: there are more older
books than you usually find (at least in paperback).  They have about
50% more books than their shelves will hold; there are many stacks of
books not on shelves."  "CCBC is a pleasant medium sized bookstore,
always good for something.  They will special order anything, so far as
I know.  They have two stores, one in either of the two WC shopping
centers.  The larger one is the regular store.  The smaller one is
filled with remainders and WCU texts."  They also have a pair of very
large birds, confined to a cage, but they smell and squawk, sometimes
quite loudly.  Each of the shopping centers are immediately off of one
of the three Route 202 WC exits.

"While in the area, look for Baldwin's Book Barn, a converted barn.  It
is possibly the largest used bookstore in the Philadelphia area, and it
is glorious.  Exton (the next town over) has another fine used
bookstore.  Right next to the Burger King next to campus is a little old
ladies' little old books' bookstore.  Not much of a selection, but I
always buy a few from them when I'm in the area.  The Downingtown
Farmers' Market also has a few used bookstores, along with stuff you
just don't find in any other mall."

And in Willow Grove is the Business and Computer Bookstore.  "When
you're in the Philadelphia area, you as might as well also check out
Quantum, Borders, U Penn, Drexel U bookstores, and Lame Duck for used
science books.  If `technical' includes architecture, there's
furthermore a specialty store for just that in Center City.  (I've never
been to the Temple U bookstore, so I can't comment on it.)"

============================================================================
Pittsburgh, PA:

Atlantic Books.  An okay remainder place.
The Bookworm (in Squirrel Hill).  A good used bookstore.
Borders (5 miles south on US 19).  A very good book store, and compares
    well with any bookstore short of Powell's (in Portland, Oregon)
    that I've visited.
City Books (on the South Side of the Monogahela river across from
    downtown).  Used.
Riverrun Books (next door to City Books).  Smaller than City Books but the
    two put together are well worth a visit.
Eide's Comic Shop.  A better science fiction section than any store in the
    Boston area (specialty or otherwise).
Pinocchio Bookstore for Children (in Shadyside opposite the west end of
    Walnut St).  The selection here is far better than any in any
    general bookstore.  (It's well-chosen stuff for the most part, not
    shelf after shelf of Sweet Valley High).
Skleder's.  Has a reasonable selection of old books, but nothing to brag
    about.
University of Pittsburgh Bookstore.  Pretty good.

There are several more (St.  Elmo's and Stonewall probably merit additions
as well).  The CMU-SCS-student's Guide to Living In Pittsburgh gives a long
descriptions of the various kinds of bookstores in the area, but it's
probably more information than you want.  (It would take up a whole posting
by itself, and the bookstore pickings in Pittsburgh are a good deal slimmer
than NYC or the Bay Area.)

============================================================================
Providence, RI:

Book Store, Murder by the Book, and Other Worlds (1281 N. Main St).  A
    variety of stores occupying the same space.  Wide selection of used
    science fiction and mysteries.
Cellar Stories (190 Mathewson Street).  Good selection of just about
    everything.  Recently doubled its space.  Contrary to its name, it's
    on a second floor downtown, just off of Weybosset.  Can usually be
    spotted by a banner hanging from the upstairs window.
Sewards' Folly (139 Brook Street).  Eclectic selection.  At about fifteen
    years old, this is the longest-surviving of the used bookstoress
    around here, so they must be doing something right.  Owned by as
    retired couple named (surprise) Seward, this is a comfortable places
    to browse, and only a couple of blocks from coffee mecca ons
    Wickenden Street, so you can conveniently take your purchases and
    enjoy them over a cup of espresso.

============================================================================
St. Louis, MO:

The Book Store (NW corner of Big Bend and Millbrook near Washington
    University).  They have *at least* twice as many paperback titles as
    Library Ltd. in stock, but very few hardbacks.  They also have a
    "buyers club" where they record the cost of each purchase (not
    counting sale books), and after twelve books they give you a credit
    for a percentage of the total purchase price (basically every
    thirteenth book free).  They specialize in mysteries, romance, and
    speculative fiction, these three genres comprising at least 80% of
    the titles in stock; they also have the most remarkable stock of
    women's erotica one reader has ever seen.  They will also buy back
    your used books after you read them.  Parking is a bit of a hassle.
    (The store is in the process of being sold so all this could change.
    12/92)
A Collector's Bookshop (6275 Delmar in University City) (used).  Science
    fiction is upstairs in the back.  Sorted by author's last initial
    only, and the selection is huge and turns over fast.  You can spend
    hours in this place.  It's a real job to search through, but you get
    some real bargains.  Mostly paperbacks, but some hardbacks, trade,
    and book club editions, too.
The Library Ltd. (actually in the suburb of Clayton at Forsyth and Hanley,
    about a half-mile west of Washington U).  A new store, the largest
    bookstore in St. Louis.  A very pleasant store, with couches,
    chairs, and tables for reading areas.  Fills the whole floor of a
    store which used to be a Best catalog showroom.  A large selection
    of discount-price remaindered books, and an extensive display of all
    varieties of current hardbacks, paperbacks, and a reasonable
    magazine selection.
Star Clipper (8100 block of Delmar in University City).  Their stock of
    books is limited--their specialty is comics and SF art (posters,
    books, etc.).

============================================================================
Salt Lake City, UT:

Sam Weller's (273 S Main).  A *huge* place with new books on the main floor
    and used books in the basement and on the balcony.  You can easily
    spend half a day browsing in here.
King's English (1500? S 1500 E).  A cozy bookstore with a resident cat,
    armchairs, and free tea and coffee.  New books, strongest in
    fiction and literature.  Best selection of mysteries in town.

============================================================================
Seattle, WA:

AKA Books & Left Bank Books.  Part of a collective that provides small
    press and alternative titles--former is primarily used books at
    good prices, latter is mostly new titles.
Bailey/Coy Books.  Wonderful, full of good fiction and recommendations
    from staff and customers.
Beauty and the Books.  Run-of-the-mill university used bookstore.
Beyond the Closet Books (1501 Belmont Ave).  The city's best gay &
    lesbian bookstore.
Blackbird Books (3130 E Madison).  Has a good selection of books for the
    African-American community, including toys, posters, children's
    books, and music.
David Ishi, Bookseller (down the street from Elliot Bay).  Lots of old
    hardcovers and memorabilia, but it's a bit expensive.  He
    specializes in fine editions, and will do difficult rare book
    searches on request.
Discount Books.  Has some of the lowest prices, but their selection is
    usually limited.
Elliot Bay Books.  Booklover's paradise. Also has an extensive children's
    section, complete with a playroom for kids as you browse other
    areas.
Flora and Fauna Books (1st Ave in Pioneer Square).  Best nature/outdoors
    bookstore in town, with both new and selected used/rare titles.
Half-Price (University District).  Large collection of mostly used books.
Lambda Books.  The best place for gay/lesbian titles and postcards.
Magus Bookstore.  Run-of-the-mill university used bookstores.
Mystery Bookshop (117 Cherry).  Large collection of new and used mysteries.
Open Books (Wallingford).  Great poetry selection.
Second Story Book Store (Wallingford Center on N. 45th).  Feminist, new
    fiction, lending library.
Secret Garden Children's Bookshop (Greenlake).  A wonderful selection.
Shorey's Books.  Used bookstore with ancient reference books.  Lots of
    dreck, but the occasional book you can't find anywhere else.
Spade & Archer (1101 E Pike).  Mystery bookstore. The Pike St cinema is
    at the back.
Standard Books (65th in the Roosevelt District).  Great bookstore -- open,
    airy, light, current fiction and non-fiction, heavy on politics,
    history, poetry.  Small children's section.  Free Sunday NYTimes
    Book Review.  Staff super-friendly and involved, newsletter, book
    signings and readings.
Tower Books (Lower Queen Anne).  Large, wide-ranging selection of new
    books, magazines, and papers.  Also sells the cheapest IRISH
    TIMES in Seattle.
Twice Sold Tales (on John, not 45th).  Has incredibly good used fiction
    at good prices.
University Bookstore.  Simply massive, with good people to find the book
    you want, and an extensive children's section. "Better than any
    University bookstore I know (including Harvard Coop) for general
    books."

There are also several used bookstores the university area--one along
University Way and a couple on side streets going East, towards campus.

And of course, you might want to consider a day trip down to Portland
(three hours by car) to get to visit Powell's--probably the largest
bookstore in the world.

============================================================================
Washington, DC:

Air Land and Sea (Old Town Alexandria at 1215 King St).  New and used
    aeronautical, nautical, and military books, prints (and
    collectibles, and other knick-knacks).
Borders (Rockville Pike near White Flint mall in Bethesda/Rockville).
    The best.  Aside from having a huge selection, it has employees who
    actually know something about books.  Pricey, but a great place to
    hang out.  Borders has just opened an even bigger store in Tysons
    Corner on Leesburg Pike.
From Out of the Past (Alexandria on Richmond Hwy (Route 1).  Eclectic
    mix of books, sometimes overpriced badly IMHO, but *the* place in
    Washington to buy things like old Life magazines.
Kramerbooks/Afterwords (P St. just north of Dupont Circle).
    Smallish bookstore, but good selection & nice cafe in the back.
    Open 24 hours a day.  Also the regular Kramerbooks at 1875 K Street
    inside International square.  Very good collection of political
    science and technical works.  **NOTE**: Another person says
    these are "[n]ot listed as such (under either name) in the
    current D.C. white or yellow pages.  There is an Afterwords Cafe at
    1517 Conn. Ave, N.W., but I have no notion if it is related."
    Can someone clarify?
The Map Store Inc. (Farragut Sq at 1636 Eye St. NW).  An excellent
    source of maps, travel guides, etc.
Maryland Book Exchange (College Park at 4500 College Ave).  An above
    average technical/university bookstore with some used books.
The Newsroom (two blocks up from Kramerbooks on Connecticut Ave).  A good
    selection of national & international newspapers & magazines.
Olde Soldier Books, Inc. (Gaithersburg on N Frederick Ave).  Specializes
    in Civil War books, in which they have a broad stock.  Worth
    checking on any military material for earlier wars, new (some)
    or used (mainly).  They also publish.
Olsson's Books & Records (Main store in Georgetown on Wisconsin Ave. NW.
    Other stores at Dupont Circle on 19th St NW, Metro Center on F
    St NW, Old Town Alexandria on S Union St, and Bethesda on Old
    Georgetown Rd).  Good selection, including some hard-to-find books.
    Also a music store.  Will order from Books in Print, and, at the
    Georgetown store, British Books in Print.  Also a music store;
    mainly classical.
Politics and Prose (Connecticut and Nevada).  A full service bookstore.
    Recent fiction and current affairs, politics.  Often has authors
    speaking.
Reiter's Scientific and Technical Bookstore (2021 K St NW).  They have a
    very broad stock of technical books and are also willing to do
    phone and mail order worldwide [phone] or [phone].
Wonder Books & Video (Frederick on W Patrick St (Route 40 W)).  A large
    used bookstore that I've always found well worth searching.

In Bethesda, just find one used bookstore -- each one has maps
    showing the locations of all the others.

Second Story Books (chain with stores at Dupont Circle on P St NW,
    Rockville on Parklawn Ave, Bethesda on Bethesda Ave, and in
    Baltimore).  Used books (and records). Largest selection of
    any of the used book stores I go to (I look for paperback fiction
    and history, mostly).

For literary stuff, try Chapters, at 1532 K St NW.

For SF, fantasy, and strange odds & ends, try Hole in the Wall
      (a.k.a. Hole in the Wallet) in Falls Church, Virginia.

For theater books, Backstage Inc., 21st & P Streets N.W.

============================================================================

Evelyn C. Leeper   |   [phone]   |   [e-mail]

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From: [e-mail] (Evelyn C. Leeper)
Subject: Bookstores in New York City (NYC) List (rec.arts.books)
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Last change:
Fri Dec  4 16:50:48 EST 1992

Additional comments on:
    The Mysterious Book Shop (129 W. 56th)
    Doubleday (5th Ave & 53rd)
    Strand Books (828 Broadway & 12th)

Copies of this article may be obtained by anonymous ftp to
pit-manager.mit.edu (18.172.1.27) under
/pub/usenet/news.answers/books/stores/nyc.Z.  Or, send email to
[e-mail] with the subject line "send
usenet/news.answers/books/stores/nyc", leaving the body of the
message empty.

[Note 1: Yes, I realize that I have covered only Manhattan and New York City
covers four other boroughs.  Further listings are welcome.]

[Note 2: I collected these comments from a variety of people.  I personally
have no knowledge of many of these places and take no responsibility if you
buy a book you don't enjoy.  :-)   Phone numbers and precise addresses can
be gotten by calling directory assistance at 212-555-1212.  Call ahead for
precise hours, as even when I list them they are subject to change.]

[Note 3: I am cross-posting this to rec.arts.sf.written, but the bookstores
listed include *all* types of bookstores, so please don't tell me that a
particular store has a limited SF section unless I have specifically claimed
otherwise.]

Working south:
==========UPTOWN=============
NRS Books (used) (118th & Amsterdam, across from Columbia U)
    Cavernous, twisty store; small but often interesting.  Mixed
    salespeople--some very good.  A gamble.  Identify the
    mystery quote of the day and get an additional 20% off your
    purchase.  Paul, the owner, used to have a weakness for
    complete sets--old encyclopedias, bound collections of
    American Heritage, and so on.
    Extensive humanities and soc. sci. sections, very
    reasonable prices, and lots of gems.

??? Used Books (115th & Amsterdam, above the post office)
    I've never been there--I think they have a lot of used
    course books.

Columbia Univ. Bookstore (Barnes & Noble) (Broadway and 115th)
    The usual Barnes & Noble selection as well as textbooks for
    courses at Columbia.  Higher prices than many other stores,
    but a very large selection, even for B&N.  The downtown store
    has textbooks for NYU.

Barnard Bookforum (Broadway and 115th)
    A very good bookstore with many of Barnard's textbooks, plus a
    generally strong selection and helpful staff.  Surprising
    Russian-language section in the back.

Papyrus (Broadway & 114th)
    A fairly large collection of left-wing books and magazines
    (on film, literature, etc., as well as politics).
    "I'm not sure if they're worth a special trip, but check
    them out if you're in the neighborhood."

Pomander Books (955 West End Avenue--also described as Broadway at
    107th, on the SW corner, down the stairs) (212-866-1777).
    A good used-book store. This is the same bookstore that was next
    to the Thalia.  Lots of art books, some hard to find.  If it
    matters, West End runs into Broadway just north of there, which
    is why the address is misleading.

Paperback Discounter (west side of Broadway just south of 94th Street).
    There are lots of used and otherwise discounted paperbacks, but
    the collection, which is eclectic and interesting, is--by those
    very attributes--not very reliable.  (They also rent videotapes,
    and if you look mainly at the signs in the window you'll notice an
    ad for VCR repair that might distract you from the display of
    paperbacks in the window.)

Black Books Plus (Amsterdam and 94th)
    Specialty is Black interest and Third World concerns.

Funny Business (northwest corner of Amsterdam and 93rd)
    A comic book store of unknown quality.

The Military Bookman (29 East 93rd) (212-348-1280)
    Specializing in used military books.  Their selection is
    excellent, but they are usually a bit pricey.  It's the
    sort of place that military buffs all know about, but
    call only as a last resort.  They issue a catalog (about
    3 times a year), and otherwise engage in mail order.
    (One poster reports that they contacted him recently about
    a book he had told them he was looking for at least three
    years ago, so they keep track of these things.)
    No credit card/phone orders.

Kitchen Arts & Letters, Inc. (1435 Lexington Ave at 93rd)
    (212-876-5550).  Quoting from their brochure: "the country's
    largest store devoted completely to books on food and wine.
    With well over 7000 cooking titles and access to thousands of
    out-of-print titles through our free search service..."
    From a reader: "While the sale prices at Jessica's Biscuit beat
    these peoples' full-list prices, this probably is a good place to
    keep in mind for unusual and hard to find cookery books.  Sounds
    like a fun place to browse, in any case..."  Does credit card and
    phone orders.  (Mon 1-6, Tue-Fri 10-6:30, Sat 11-6.  Summer hours
    less regular; mostly closed Saturdays in July and open only 2-3
    days per week in August.)

The Corner Bookstore (Madison at 93rd)
    They specialize in children's books and travel books, but
    they also have a film connection: not only is this the bookstore
    where Nick Nolte found the "Renata Halpern" children's book in
    THE PRINCE OF TIDES, it's also just one block south of
    the red brick fortress/castle facade featured in THE FISHER KING.

Murder Ink (Broadway btwn 92nd and 93rd)
    As you might suspect, it specializes in mysteries and had a
    very good collection (as did The Mysterious Bookstore).

Barnes & Noble Books (Lexington north of 86th) (also downtown)
    New "super-store" (opened 6/26/92).  "The old 86th St. Barnes &
    Noble has moved around the corner and has expanded into what is
    certainly one of the finest bookstores in the city.  A huge
    bookstore with a lovely decor, desks for reading, a knowledgeable
    staff, and a well-stocked (and well-laid-out) selection, this new
    store is an absolute pleasure.  Kudos to B&N on this one."

East West Books (Columbus north of 86th) (also downtown)
    Stocks books on Buddhism, Taoism, Sufism, Indian Religions also
    New Age, self-improvement, health and healing.  Cards, jewelry,
    audio tapes, incense.  Good sized stock.

Met Museum Store (5th Avenue & 82nd)
    They have neat art books, posters, engagement calendars,
    videos etc.

Shakespeare & Co. (81st & Broadway) (also downtown) (212-580-7800)
    A good, large selection, they're good about getting in the new
    stuff quickly.  One person said, "Much like Coliseum, but closes
    earlier," but now it has expanded its hours until 11:30 (12:30
    on Friday and Saturday nights).  It also expanded upstairs a few
    years ago.

Endicott Books (81st & Columbus)
    A very good selection, with salespeople who like to
    read (really--this isn't all that common).  A good
    store.  Sometimes they sponsor readings by authors.

Burlington Books (81st & Madison)
    Lots of current titles, art books, as well as used books.  They'll
    special order anything, and will do active searches for out-of-print
    titles.  They often buy out estates, so you're almost always bound
    to find something new each time you go in.  Just a block away from
    the Metropolitan Museum.  Definitely worth stopping into.

Gryphon Bookshop (2246 Broadway btwn 80th & 81st)
    They have a nice selection, and will do active searches for
    one.
    OK, but too expensive. They have an Annex around the corner
    (at 246 W 80th off Broadway away from Amsterdam, on the
    south side of the street, one flight up) that sells everything
    at 50% off the listed price. That makes it reasonable (in most
    cases). Enormous lit & history sections.
    Gryphon has charm and has recently expanded.  The new store
    is on Broadway and is new and shiny, but the old store is
    around the corner and is dark and twisty and has a
    mysterious locked closet which contains a vast trove of old
    L. Frank Baum hardcovers (another poster says these bookcases are
    in the new store).  The Gryphon is probably one of the world
    centers for Wizard of Oz books.  They also do searches.

Eeyore's (83rd off Broadway)
    Children's books; Sunday readings and other activities for
    kids.  Excellent, with a friendly, knowledgeable staff.

Storyland (3rd Avenue at 78th)

Museum of Natural History Book Store (in the Museum; 77th at CPW)
    No guarantees, but they used to have an interesting
    selection of books on nature and natural history.