Book Club
Lower East Side, Manhattan: 197 E 3rd Street
Let’s say you want to purchase books and alcohol at the same time. While this would have been unheard of a few years ago, you actually have a lot of rapidly gentrifying options— Molasses Books in Bushwick, the soon to be wined up Dear Friend in Bed-Stuy and for the Lower East siders, there’s Book Club. Book Club succeeds because it’s bar is bar-y and it’s bookstore is bookstore-y. It’s got that exposed brick and leather armchair vibe which feels hip yet relaxed. There’s plenty of spots to sit and read or imbibe, provided you get there early enough! It can get pretty populous on nights and weekends with groups of gregarious New Yorker tote bag owners. You’ll overhear a whole lot of pop culture options here. The cherry on top is this spot capitalizes on its hip neighborhood and later hours to host some pretty cool readings— recent highlights include Hannah Sward and Arab poetry night.
What I got:
Detransition, Baby
I was curious to read this book because it got a ton of love and a ton of hate— for reasons both political and literary. Personally, I loved it and couldn’t put it down from the moment I cracked it open over a beer in the Book Club backyard. The characters are messed up and also super horny. They make exclusively bad decisions and justify them with all kinds of mental acrobatics. I loved this book not only for the prose, which was witty and delirious, but also for the loving descriptions of NYC locales close to my heart.
I gave this book to my mom after I finished it and she was not a fan. Her review: “It's official, baby: I am detransitioning the novel at p. 57. The writing hasn't hooked me and I don't enjoy spending time with these characters.” The Detransition Baby debate continues!!
Bookstore AND bar? I’m sold.