Editor’s Note: “My Happy Place,” a CNN Original Series following celebrities on deeply personal journeys, airs Sundays at 10 p.m. ET/PT. CNN also tapped its anchors and correspondents to share their happy places. Visiting New York’s Strand bookstore makes CNN’s Erin Burnett happy.
New York City (CNN) — Books — real books, the tangible, flip-the-pages kind — have an enduring appeal. As do bookstores — real bookstores, the brick-and-mortar, browse-and-discover kind. There is an atmosphere and culture to them, expert curation and literary serendipity. Bookstores are vital social capital too — third spaces where strangers mix.
But there is also an awareness among many booksellers today that books alone may not be enough of a draw for customers to take the time to visit (instead of ordering them on their phones). To attract a wider customer base, some are combining people’s love of books with other things they love: coffee, cocktails, dinner and experiences in a unique aesthetic.
In the heart of New York City’s historic book district stands one of the last, great bookstores, the Strand. It’s a 3rd-generation, family-owned legend that’s been serving bibliophiles for nearly 100 years. But for just the last three of those they’ve started serving cappuccinos, croissants and other treats in a cozy coffee space in one corner of the first floor.
On the third floor is another entrepreneurial nod to the appeal of the Strand beyond book purchases: an event space inside its rare books collection.
Through the “Autograph Ally” of author signatures lies the large room with high ceilings and walls shelved with old books, many under glass, looking like a bookstore of yore. Rare titles and signed first editions, many with their front cover side out on display, surround string lights strung across the room. Rows of seating typically face a small stage with two leather stuffed chairs, the setup for book launch discussions.
The space is booked year-round for receptions, book signings and discussions, ceremonies, staff meetings, film shoots and even private events such as weddings or an interactive murder mystery. An outside catering company handles food and drinks. Couples sometimes book the space, as they’ve explained to the Strand’s staff, because it was the destination of their first date. But the appeal to anyone reserving the room is the unique vibe of a bookstore.
My Happy Place New York Bookstores
“People want to mark the moments in their lives surrounded by who and what is important to them,” said Kat Pongrace, marketing director at the Strand, in an email. “Hosting an event in our rare books room is so much more than an aesthetic choice, because books are emotional and intellectual touchstones throughout people’s lives. This means that regardless of if people have a personal connection to Strand, hosting in our rare book room is an experience that bibliophiles of all walks of life find enchanting.”
That emotional and intellectual backdrop can be applied to other businesses as well. In strolling distance from the Strand are three relatively recent bookstore hyphenates. A bar, a wine bar and a restaurant — all selling new titles. The businesses combine the joy of dining or imbibing with another joy, of browsing a curated display of possible reads — each half of the equation enhancing the other.
Bookstores with a side hustle of drinks and food isn’t new — two personal favorites include Rough Draft Bar & Books in Kingston, New York, and The Den (part of Politics & Prose bookstore) in Washington DC — but a bar or restaurant essentially set inside a bookstore, as found near Greenwich Village, is writing a new genre-crossing chapter.
Before you reach the back tables and bookshelves of the Book Club Bar, which opened in 2019 in the East Village, you’re greeted by the jovial bartenders up front, serving beer and cleverly named cocktails.
Who needs a friend when you have a new book to pair with a refreshing light rum Cider House Mule, or a Whiskey the Pooh, or an In Cold Bloody Mary? Not the solo reader/drinkers at the bar.
The bookstore part — with exposed brick walls, rug-covered floors and a pressed-tin ceiling — has a sizable New York-themed section among the usual topic suspects. There are signs noting their philosophical fiction and poetry book clubs. They also host an expert speaker series called “Lectures on Tap.”
What at first feels like an odd juxtaposition of nightlife and literary setting, starts to make sense as you sip a Narragansett Lager while browsing the bookstore with a din of conversation and cool music. It’s not unlike in Ireland where you can still find old bars that double as hardware stores. Two needs, one unique space.
“Life is short. Art is long,” reads a yellow neon sign over the bar of Bibliotheque in SoHo, which opened in December of 2023. It’s a quote attributed to the ancient Greek philosopher Hippocrates and sums up the longtail endurance of a book.
Dimly lit, at least compared to Book Club Bar, Bibliotheque’s dark wood shelves and leather banquettes under chandeliers give it the coolest of bookstore vibes. The wine and dinner pairings help too. The White Stripes played during a recent visit as customers perused first editions, new releases, giant coffee table volumes, poetry and graphic novels.
“There’s an unmistakable link between the experience of reading great literature and the experience of drinking a fantastic glass of wine,” said Andrew Jason Jacono, owner of Bibliotheque, in an email. “Both are sensory experiences that take over every aspect of the perception, and moreover, they connect you to stories that are much bigger and more complex than yourself.”
Friends chatted, solo drinkers enjoyed their novels, and no one was annoyed when others looked over and around them to browse.
Given the reservations-for-tables popularity of Bibliotheque — where an extensive wine list is paired with kinetic art installations, wooden ladders that slide to reach high shelves, and champagne buckets flanking small tables — there’s clearly a market for an uber-hip combo wine ‘n’ books space.
Pasta & prose
Like the literary offerings at the Italian restaurant Sullaluna, the staff is bilingual. The original opened in Venice eight years ago and this one in the West Village began offering pasta dishes and picture books in 2024.
The feel is more bistro than bookshop, but what nicer for-purchase art is there to display than the covers of Italian-language children’s books?
“We never forget that the books we offer to young readers are an incredibly important aesthetic experience,” said Francesca Rizzi, co-owner of Sullaluna, in an email. “They are the first art gallery we present to them, helping to build their sense of beauty while nurturing their critical thinking and powers of observation.”
Downstairs by the bathrooms (with framed illustrated book pages by the stalls) is a larger display of titles for sale, though many are in Italian, including all adult volumes.
Along with the literary feast comes a menu of other Italian treats, from tomato and mozzarella starters to classic pasta dishes and focaccias, through desserts such as sweet ricotta pie directly from Naples.
Checks are delivered inside used, slim volumes. One was titled “The Case of the Cat’s Meow,” by Crosby Bonsall, an “I Can Read mystery,” the cover explained.
As for the future of bookstores, may “litera scripta manet” — the Latin phrase meaning “the written word remains” — even if it requires a serving of linguini with that “litera.”
