Reviews
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Bookstores/Libraries
Rizzoli Bookstore
English, French, General, Italian, Spanish, Bookstores/Libraries, Kids
This is a truly gorgeous bookstore with a wonderful selection of books—in English, Italian, Spanish, and French. There are not many stores in New York with a meaningful supply of foreign-language books. This is one, and it seems to…
Black Sea Bookstore
Russian, Bookstores/Libraries
This bookstore is full of Russian books. It is located in the heavily Russian neighborhood of Brighton Beach, so you can enjoy a book-shopping adventure and then go off and eat at a Russian restaurant or, depending on the time…
W J Bookstore
Mandarin, Bookstores/Libraries, Kids
There are three of these bookstores around New York City, one in each of the three major Chinatowns. Besides the one listed in this entry, in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, there is one on 377 Broadway in Manhattan (212-226-5131) and one…
Polam Bookstore
Polish, Bookstores/Libraries
This Greenpoint store definitely has books in Polish, but if you are looking for books about Polish, it’s probably not the best destination. At least when I was there (this was in mid-2011), they had…
New Netherland Institute
Dutch, Bookstores/Libraries, Organizations
Located in the New York State Library in Albany, the New Netherland Institute is the home of the New Netherland Project, run for decades by scholar Dr. Charles Gehring. The purpose of the New Netherland Project is…
Haskell Library
French, Bookstores/Libraries, Classes/Conversation, Kids
Members of the French Institute Alliance Française have access to its magnificent John & Francine Haskell Library. With your adult membership fee of $95 (less for seniors, academics, and children), you can check out music, learning tools, movies, and…
Brooklyn Public Library, Greenpoint Branch
Polish, Bookstores/Libraries, Kids
Greenpoint’s public library is full of Polish books. When I visited in 2011, I met librarian Izabela Barry, who is originally from Poland and who had at that time been at the library for nine years. During her tenure she…
J. Levine Books & Judaica
Hebrew, Bookstores/Libraries
When I visited this store in 2011 looking for Hebrew study materials, two different employees—both pleasant—helped me in my quest. I left with a couple of books, both of which I ended up using. It was not a wholly…
Open Letter
General, Websites, Bookstores/Libraries
This non-profit publisher at the University of Rochester is dedicated to fixing a persistent imbalance: writing in English gets translated and shipped all over the world, but only three percent of the books published in the U.S. are works…