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One of Jennifer Harlan’s favorite ways to get to know a place is by wandering through its local independent bookstores.
So when Ms. Harlan, an editor at The New York Times Book Review, was brainstorming with a group of fellow editors this year about how to show off New York City’s literary scene, she and the team landed on the idea of a series of bookstore crawls through the city’s neighborhoods.
“We were thinking both about bookstores we loved in our own neighborhoods, as well as ones in other parts of the city we wanted to show off,” she said.
The guide to the first crawl, through Midtown Manhattan, was published in July, followed by one through Prospect Heights and Park Slope in Brooklyn last month.
The idea, Ms. Harlan said, was to cultivate an itinerary that would not only have variety — comics, used books, romance, drama — but that would also hit both must-visit highlights and lesser-known gems, like the fantasy-themed Love & Legends.
In an interview, she discussed the criteria that make the perfect bookstore, how editors narrowed down the contenders and her dream book crawl. These are edited excerpts from the conversation.
What was your vision for the series?
We wanted to create something you could do in an afternoon. We tried to keep these guides to an hour or less of total walking time, so that if you were a tourist, this could be a fun, unexpected way to get to know a neighborhood. We started with Midtown, which I definitely didn’t think of as an area with a lot of great bookstores. But as we started putting our list together, I realized just how many are in that area. It’s something that’s unique to New York, both that we have this culture of writing and publishing and loving books, and that there’s such a rich history of book selling. There used to be a stretch of Fourth Avenue that had 48 bookstores. It’s also one of the few places in the country where, even just walking for less than an hour, you could hit six to 10 bookstores.
You can also see a lot of different kinds of bookstores. Each of the tours has both new and used bookstore options. There are specialty bookstores as well. In the Midtown crawl, we have Midtown Comics and the Drama Book Shop, and in Brooklyn, we have Love & Legends, which is fantasy-themed, and the Ripped Bodice, which is romance. We also wanted each crawl to end in a place where it would be nice to sit and read all the books that you might have picked up along the way.
How many bookstores were on your initial list?
It was over 100. I mapped out 10 neighborhoods by crowdsourcing from people on the desk and doing research into bookstores I might not have heard of. And then I was sitting on Google Maps bookmarking the stops in each neighborhood and trying to figure out the best route. I tried not to have any legs longer than 15 minutes because, for New Yorkers, walking 20 minutes seems pretty reasonable. But when my parents visit from Kentucky, I’ll be like, It’s only a 15-block walk, and they’re like, That seems so far.
And then a group of us walked the Midtown route together. One of the designers who worked on this project was pregnant at the time, so what seemed like a short distance to me felt much longer to her. So that was helpful to get different people’s perspectives. I specifically mapped it out so you don’t walk through Times Square. I was like, I want this to be a pleasant walking experience.
How did you adjust the itinerary in response?
We ended up cutting a couple of antiquarian bookstores because by the time we got to the Drama Book Shop, everyone was like, I’m done walking. We also want all the spaces to be inviting for casual browsers, which a teeny-tiny antiquarian bookshop that’s largely by appointment only may not be. On the flip side, I love the Morgan Library, and they have one of the best bookshops of any museum in the city. But it felt like a lot to ask people, after having done a whole walking tour, to then also walk around a museum.
What makes for the ideal bookshop experience?
I want something with personality. There’s a reason we’ve focused on independent bookstores. In terms of the overall crawl, we’re thinking about curating a mix of new and used books, finding something for every budget, and also thinking about how to reflect the personality of the neighborhood. The Drama Book Shop, for instance, is one of my favorite stores and felt essential to include for Midtown, both because it’s such a beautiful and inviting space, but also because Broadway and theater are such a part of the history and personality of that neighborhood.
How did you think about mixing well-known bookstores with places that’ll be new to locals?
We’re writing these not just for tourists, but also for people who live here. I discovered a lot reporting these tours, even as someone who has lived here for a long time. But there’s a reason that places like the Strand are so beloved — I’ve received a bunch of emails from people asking why this isn’t on our crawl, and I’m like, Because it’s not in Midtown! This isn’t meant to be all deep cuts; we want the greatest hits to be in there, too.
What other feedback have you received so far?
I’ve heard from a lot of people who used to live in New York who’ve said, This was a really nice way for me to vicariously revisit some of my old stomping grounds. People have also written that they’re coming to New York and are excited to test out the tour. I’m hoping they do, and I want to hear from them!
There was one man who was very upset that I had not included a particular bookstore in Midtown, Gotham Book Mart, that I had to inform him had closed almost 20 years ago. I hate to be the bearer of bad bookstore news.
What would your dream book crawl look like, if geography were no obstacle?
I would have to include Carmichael’s, which is the oldest independent bookstore in Louisville, Ky., where I’m from. There’s also an incredible bookstore in North Conway, N.H., that I visit every summer called White Birch Books. I’d also include Shakespeare and Company in Paris but, magically, there wouldn’t be a giant line of tourists also trying to get in, and I would have the store to myself. And then Daunt Books in London, Skylight Books in L.A. and Three Lives & Company in New York. There’s also a bookstore in New Hampshire that I loved when I was a little kid called Woodland Books & Toys that closed several years ago. Since this is my magic bookstore crawl, I’m going to bring it back.
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