I love books. I don’t always have the chance to read (in fact I next to never have a chance :-(), but I still love books. I’ve amassed a large collection over the years. I even have many books from my childhood that I had saved to share with my own children. I even saved some of my children’s favorite books to share with my grandchildren some day.
One of my life’s dreams even involves books. My #1 dream is to own a house (a nice house, not like the one from the Tom Hanks film Money Pit). My next dream is to take my family on a REAL vacation (like Disney World). I also wouldn’t mind a new (used) car and to be a “normal” weight. My life dream that involves books is to open up a used/new book store and coffee house. I have it all planned out. I would offer new and used books, host story time for children, offer workshops, crafts for children and more. I would also offer coffee, teas and baked goods from a local bakery. Of course renting a storefront and buying the supplies requires capital ($$$) which we simply do not have. I would be nice though.
One of the things on my “Bucket List” is to write a book – or – have one of my photographs appear in a book. That would be awesome too.
So as you can see, I ♥ books.
Yesterday was my husband’s birthday (he’s “29 and holding… ha ha). He wanted to spend the day walking around the town he grew up in – Nyack, New York. The weather was perfect and I love walking around Nyack, so that was fine with me.
Nyack is about a 19 miles (or a half hour give or take) Northwest of Manhattan (NYC). It’s an old town right on the Hudson River. Rosie O’Donnel has a beautiful house in Nyack. It’s even home to a haunted house that was the center of a lawsuit (Stambovsky vs. Ackley). The house on 1 LaVeta Place was declared legally haunted and the owners failed to disclose that to the new buyers.
Nyack’s business section is peppered with antique shops, boutiques, restaurants and art galleries. Hidden among the stores is what I like to refer to as a “hidden gem”. The shop is called Pickwick Book Shop. It’s located at 8 S Broadway if you ever happen to be in the area.
Pickwick sells both new and used books (among other things). Most of the books are used. In fact, some are very old (very, very old!).
Books are not only on the floor to ceiling shelves but also piled high where ever you look (no exaggeration). It’s almost impossible to find anything specific you are looking for. It can also be a bit overwhelming at times. However I never go into the store with anything specific in mind. I go to browse and to see what surprises I can find.
Many of the books look like they came straight out of someone’s attic or from a garage sale. That is fine with me. Where a book comes from doesn’t affect it’s words or what the story is about.
I love to visit the Pickwick Book Store to explore the books. Every now and then I’ll find a book from my childhood, or I’ll stumble across an old, out of print book that looks interesting.
I love looking at the old illustrations. That is my favorite part about browsing through the books. Yesterday I found a “who done it” mystery book geared towards children (I can’t remember the title) where the girl on the cover was dressed like she was straight out of the Patty Duke show. I love it!
My husband even found a few books over the years at Pickwick that he’s enjoyed, and my hubby is not much of a reader.
Children’s book, old cookbooks (the kind of cookbook your grandmother would have had), reference books… you name it, you can find it there.
The books are not always cheap, even the used books. But often you can score a great deal. They even have sales on books and in front of the store you’ll find boxes of books available for a dollar or two.
I’m sorry that a few of the photos are fuzzy. I always feel awkward taking pictures inside stores. I don’t want people to think that I’m up to no good.
If you happen to find yourself in Nyack, New York, and you love books, you might want to take some time to check out Pickwicks. While you are at it you should take a stroll around town and enjoy some good food and the various galleries. Or you can sit down by the Hudson River and relax for a bit.
Kimberly
*I was not compensated for this post. I am simply sharing a fun location to visit if you ever happen to be in the area.
Alicia K says
wow, what a packed bookstore
Rae says
I LOVE to read. I love looking at cookbooks too. My dream cookbook to own would be the french macaroon cookbook and I am curently reading If I Were You be Lisa Renee Jones. It is a trilogy that was optioned to Starz. I also love cozy books by Duffy brown. They are like Murder She Wrote type murder mysteries. Good Luck on your dream!!!!!!!!!!!—
ANN*H says
Oh wow now you got my attention – BOOKS – I would go crazy there not knowing where to look first. I had over 350 cookbooks alone and I recently got rid of 100 of them. Nobody wants books anymore I couldnt sell them so i donated them all . But my other book collection of mysteries and Amish fiction etc. keeps expanding every day.
Tammy S says
This totally sounds like my kind of store. My daughter and I can spend hours in the book store. I love to just browse, you never know what you can find. You also can never have to many books.
Anne says
The Pickwick Book Shop looks too good to be true, to a book lover like me! I would be in heaven in that store. So many books!
I love used books, especially cookbooks. I like thinking about the hands that have turned the pages before me. And I love finding newspaper cuttings or other bookmarks former owners have left behind.
Ttrockwood says
I love authentic bookstores like this! They have all seemed to be put out of business so i go out of my way to find them now
Paul Brown says
Thanks for the tip… I love any bookstore that looks like the one in your pictures. 😉
June M. says
I love books and read at least a little each day. I never leave home without a book or an ereader or both. I would love to have a bookstore too, but I am way too OCD to have one like this bookstore. I would have to have the books organized all pretty. Plus, the stacks of books make me almost have a panic attack just looking at the pictures (I can’t stand being crowded by either people or objects).
Aliyah Weinstein says
That bookstore looks amazing! Reminds me of one that’s near where my sister goes to school in Massachusetts. There’s a pretty small used bookstore in my hometown but nothing like that!
Karen Glatt says
I too am a book lover. I love to read all kinds of books on a lot of different subjects. I like to learn about different cities and learn about people and it is just fun to read books. This bookstore has a lot of books. Wall to wall books. What a nice city to visit and to look at all the cute shops.
Lorayne Gothard says
What a cool place!!! I love the view from the street, it looks so nice and peaceful.