The Strand

I mention books a lot on my blog it seems, and for good reason. I'm really into reading. One day I hope to be called an "avid reader." Hey, we all need goals, right?

In New York there is a bookstore called The Strand. It's humongous and relatively famous - featured in lots of TV shows and movies. I used to come by here after work and leave with an armful.

They like to measure their books by the mile, and they claim the store has 18 miles of books. On a semi-related note, it annoys me when people measure things in terms of the distance from the earth to the moon.

As far as I know, none of their books sell for the sticker price they would at a normal bookstore. And not just the used books. They have tons of new books that are sold at Amazon prices - if you know what I mean. They also have a huge selection of used books if you really want a bargain. This is especially nice because lots of used bookstores don't have the greatest selection.

A friend once told me, and I think she's right, that it's best to come here to browse and pick up some random books than to come here with a specific book in mind that you'd like to purchase. Usually they would have that specific book you need, but that defeats the purpose of browsing 18 miles of books!

In case you're interested, here is a list of the books I'm currently reading:
Waiter Rant by The Waiter
Second Nature by Michael Pollan
Be The Pack Leader by Cesar Millan
The Host by Stephanie Meyer