Get That Old Book Smell at Community Bookstore

Walk into a Barnes and Noble and what do you smell? Cheap wood, burnt coffee, and the embossed plastic off the newest Dan Brown hardcover. Hardly a festival for the senses, in my humble opinion, no matter what deals they may have on the oeuvre of Carl Hiaasen. For my dollars, and considerably less than them, I’d like to have that glorious odor of dog-eared pages and old leather bindings, so I head over to the Community Bookstore in Cobble Hill.

Not messing around with “cleanliness” or “order,” here’s a place designed to reward the forager. Stacks upon stacks upon larger stacks adorn the floor- you wish the walls- and beneath them all may be the same copy of the Velveteen Rabbit you had as a kid, or just a real cheap novella for MTA-related downtime. Remember to stock up on the masterworks of cats like Derrida or Willa Cather to show off at cafes, because reading a well-worn used book is only as good as the subject matter. Way more brownie points if you are able start up a conversation about modernist identity politics than what tattoo that girl whose name you can’t pronounce has.

Photo Courtesy of: Bridge and Tunnel Club

Community Bookstore
212 Court St
At Warren St [Cobble Hill]