#15 192 Books, New York NY

192 Books is located at 192 10th Avenue. As busy as Posman books was, 192 was that quiet, almost sterile. It would have been easy to be overwhelmed by some of the titles (Suann picked up an art criticism book and said, "I'm not sure I'm smart enough to read this,") but we persevered, eventually purchasing  Sonali Deraniyagala's memoir, Wave, which is on a number of "Best of...lists" and tells the tragic story of how the author lost her parents, husband and sons to the 2004 tsunami while on vacation in Sri Lanka. (I have been advised to read this in small chunks to try and manage the sadness.)

192 Books can be found on the web at: http://www.192books.com/

Across the street from 192 Books is a great little tapas restaurant called Tia Pol; Suann had a pork sandwich while I had French toast off their brunch menu; both were superb and the waitstaff was incredibly friendly. They can be found on the web at: http://tiapol.com/)

#14 Posman Books @ Chelsea Market, New York

One of Suann's gifts to me was a trip into the city, a walk on The High Line (http://www.thehighline.org/) and a visit to a bookstore of two. The High Line was great - we went in early the Saturday after Christmas and while there were other walkers it wasn't nearly as crowded as it was when we left a few hours later. After walking we visited Chelsea Market (http://www.chelseamarket.com/), an indoor food hall that also has a few shops, including Posman Books (one of three locations for this family owned bookstore). 

Posman was packed - with books and people. The signage wasn't great but my best guess is they "tabled" the good stuff (as opposed to putting it on the shelves and it was here that I found Diane Muldrow's, Everything I Need to Know I Learned From a Golden Book. Muldrow has paired illustrations from numerous titles in the Golden Books series and paired them with advice as simple as, "Go fly a kite," (from Chicken Little) to "Don't forget to stop and smell the strawberries," (from The Pokey Little Puppy).

And because Suann was with me, we also bought Aernoud Bourdrez's, Think Like a Lawyer Don't Act Like One

Posman Books can be found on the web at: http://www.posmanbooks.com/

As for the food...well, I would suggest you stop at The Doughnuterry (http://www.doughnuttery.com/). Of course - there are about 35 other places to eat, including Sarabeth's Bakery, Amy's Bread and a lobster joint so there's plenty to choose from.

#13 The Relay Bookhouse Bethel, CT

Up the street from Byrd's Books is The Relay Bookhouse. Relay sells new and used books and couldn't be more different from its neighbor. I am fairly certain I could have spent the entire afternoon working my way through the shelves and piles of books that make up Relay's inventory. 

Purchases included, Paula D'Arcy's  Gift of the Red Bird: The Story of a Devine Encounter (when I see a cardinal I think of my mom so this purchase was inevitable); 
Brenda Ueland's, If You Want to Write and Judy Bloom's Letters to Judy: What Your Kids Wish They Could Tell You (Judy Blume was a forbidden read when I was younger, I couldn't resist).

The Relay Bookhouse can be found on the web at: http://relayzon.com/mobile0.php

#12 Byrd's Books, Bethel CT

Byrd's Books was a lot of fun to visit. It doesn't have an overwhelming selection but what they do have is pretty great. On the day I visited the clerk identified herself as the YA expert and was in the middle of reading the third and final installment of the Legend Series, Champion by Marie Lu (I'm not a huge fan of fantasy but I really enjoyed the first two books of this series even though they were a bit disturbing). We had a lovely conversation - she introducing me to some of her favorites and me sharing a few titles she hadn't heard of.

I didn't buy a copy of Champion but I did purchase Confessions of a Left Handed Man: An Artist's Memoir by Peter Selgin, a local author and E.B. White on Dogs  edited by his daughter.

Byrd's Books can be found on the web at: http://byrdsbooks.com/

#11 The Book House/The Little Book House, Troy NY

The Book House has one of the more dense selections of local authors. The store was easy to navigate and the staff, friendly. The Little Book House is connected and houses the children's books. 

Purchases included:

Brad Thor's Black List (a recommendation from my sister-in-law's mother when she found out I liked Vince Flynn)

Marilyn Mayes Kalteborn's An Unconventional Childhood: Growing Up in the Catskill Mountains During the 1950s and 1960s

Chris Grabenstein's, Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library

The Book House can be found on the web at: http://bookhouse.indiebound.com/