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Do you know that the Hispanic population in New York amounts to 27.5% of the overall New York population? The approx figure of the Spanish population in New York is 2,287,905.
In addition to these stats, you will be pleased to know that Spanish is the second most spoken language in New York City, which amounts to 19.40%.
The stats imply the presence of Spanish culture in New York City.
If you live in New York City and are originally from Latino countries or Spain then you sure look for ways to get closer to your culture.
Or, if you are a beginner Spanish learner then knowing Spanish culture helps you learn Spanish quicker.
Whether you belong to the former or the latter, you need a way by which you can feel the Spanish culture.
One way by which you can immerse yourself in Spanish culture is by reading books in Spanish. And from where you can get them? Spanish Bookstores.
While New York City has some of the best bookstores but it also has a few exclusive Spanish language bookstores which only a few people know about.
In this article, I am going to tell you about 8 Spanish bookstores in NYC from which you can buy the best Spanish books for learning or simply reading.
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Libreria barco del papel New York
The Spanish bookstore in NYC that I am going to throw light on first is Libreria Barco del Papel.
Libreria Barco del Papel is located in the Queens neighborhood of NYC.
You will find a vast collection of books in Spanish from medieval literature to contemporary literature in this bookstore.
The bookstore Libreria Barco del Papel also boasts a great collection of Spanish books in the genres of psychology, poetry, history, biographies, children, and many more.
Anyone searching the works of top Latino authors like Jorge Luis Borges, Cesar Vallejo, Mario Vargas Llosa, Octavio Paz, Roberto Bolaño, Alejo Carpentier, Manuel Mujica Láinez will be elated in here as this spanish bookstore has books written by each one of them.
The bookstore also gives encouragement to the emerging and established writers of Spanish literature. People who are taking Spanish language classes must visit this bookstore to buy beginner level books
Timings - 11 am to 7 pm
Address - 4003, 80th street, Queens, NY 11373
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Mil Mundos bookstore Brooklyn New York
Here is a store that celebrates Spanish culture through books.
Mil Mundos bookstore came into existence in the year 2018 from an idea of empowering the people living in the neighborhood of Bushwick, in which it is also located.
Mil Mundos bookstore is a bi-lingual bookstore in which you will find books in Spanish and English side by side on bookshelves.
The core mission of this bookstore is to explore, recognize and honor the black, Latinx, and indigenous heritage by providing opportunities to communicate and discuss ideas inside the premise.
You will find multiple gatherings of the local members here. The bookstore’s owners are Cuban hence, along with shopping books, you can also take a sip of hot Cuban coffee which makes it another great bookstore with café.
Because of its core values, Mil Mundos is more than a bookstore that offers yoga classes, knitting classes as well as Spanish classes. Perhaps, the fee here is cheaper than the fee of any other Spanish classes in New York.
If you don’t want to sign up in one of their classes then you can join their conversation groups in which you can have quality conversations with quality people
Mil Mundos is one of the emerging Spanish bookstores in New York City and has a fine collection of different genres of books like Architecture and Urban planning, feminism, education, fiction, SciFi, self-knowledge, graphic novels, food, politics, poetry, and many more.
Timings - 10:00 am - 8:00 pm
Address - 323 Linden St, Brooklyn, NY 11237, United States
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The Lit. Bar Bronx
I made a list of the best Spanish books to read and I want to share it with you. The list is as follows -
Don Quijote de la Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
Cien años de soledad by Gabriel García Márquez
Nada by Carmen Laforet
La vida de Lazarillo de Tormes
Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges
La casa de los espíritus by Isabel Allende
Como agua para chocolate by Laura Esquivel
Los Enamoramientos by Javier Marias
With a desire to buy this entire list of Spanish books, I searched for Spanish bookstores near me.
After some research, I came to know about ‘The Lit. Bar’ located in the Bronx neighborhood of New York City.
I found all the books on my list in the online bookshop of this bookstore as due to COVID-19 I couldn’t travel in-person to this bookstore.
The Lit. Bar is the only bookstore in the Bronx neighborhood of New York City, owned by Noëlle Santos.
A great bookstore has to have beautiful interior decor, a fine collection of books of multiple genres, a friendly staff, and wonderful stationery gifts.
The Lit. Bar has got all the above characteristics in the right amount. I am sure that once you visit this bookstore, you will feel the need to visit it over and over.
Timings - 12 pm - 6 pm
Address - 131 Alexander Ave, The Bronx, NY 10454, United States
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The Strand bookstore NYC
Spanish bookstores are a handful in number in New York City. You are not going to find a Spanish bookstore or a bookstore selling Spanish books in every other street or Ave.
Till here I have told you about the Spanish Bookstores in Queens, Brooklyn, and Bronx, so, now let me tell you about a bookstore in Manhattan that sells Spanish books - The Strand bookstore.
Read More : 21 Best Bookstores in Los Angeles that you cannot miss to visit
The Strand bookstore in lower manhattan is the biggest bookstore in New York.
The Strand bookstore New York has millions of books of different genres and languages within its brick-and-mortar walls. You can easily find Spanish books of different genres in this bookstore like culinary, autobiographies, fiction, graphic novels, self-help, spiritual, etc.
Even if you are looking for the Spanish edition of books of Dale Carnegie or autobiographies of Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, Nikola Tesla, Albert Einstein, and many other famous male or female authors, then you can easily purchase them from the Strand Bookstore.
The bookstore follows all covid-19 protocols and facilitates curbside pick-up. You can’t enter the bookstore if you don’t have a mask on your face.
Before entering ‘The Strand New York’ make sure that you have ample time like 3-4 hours because I bet that a real book reader can’t come out of this bookstore within 1 hour.
The Strand Bookstore hours are flexible for a person of every profession. It opens at 12 pm and closes at 8 pm.
Timings - 12 pm - 8 pm
Address - 828 Broadway, New York, NY 10003, United States
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Libreria Comunitaria
Libreria Comunitaria is a community-run bookshop located in Washington Heights. It is another bookstore that you can visit to purchase books written by some of the best Spanish authors.
Since it is a community bookstore hence it is run by volunteers who are amicable, especially, while handing over books to the customers. This feature makes you visit this Spanish bookstore again and again.
Libreria Comunitaria is located in Washington heights which is a neighborhood with Spanish speakers in major proportion. This bookstore also acts as a great place for community gatherings and events.
You will love the books available here but more than that you will love their price. Libreria Comunitaria has an interesting collection of books by Latino and Dominican authors.
Timings : Tue - Fri 1pm - 5pm
Address: 2113 Amsterdam Ave At 165th St, New York, NY 10032
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Idlewild books
If you are starting off in Spanish and if you are doing it on your own then you had better buy the best Spanish books for learning. I will leave a list below of some of the best Spanish books for learning
Spanish for Dummies
Lonely Planet Spanish phrasebook and dictionary by Cristina Hernandez Montero and Marta Lopez
Practice makes perfect Spanish series.
Complete Spanish: A teach yourself program by Juan Kattan-Ibarra
Easy Spanish step by step by Barbara Bergstein
Once you have mastered these books, you need more reading to reach the intermediate level. At this point, you had better buy some lightweight Spanish books that can build your vocabulary and bring in fluency.
For you below is a list of some of the best Spanish books for beginners -
Spanish short stories for beginners by Olly Richards.
El Principito by Antoine de Saint-Exupy
The “Clásicos Adaptados” Series
El Hombre Del Sombrero
Las Aventuras de Tom Sawyer
After reading the books listed above you will be full of confidence in the Spanish language. However, if you are not willing to put the work and energy into learning Spanish on your own then you must take outside help.
I recommend you to join one of the Spanish classes in New York City. Learning Spanish from the pros will make life easier for you.
Obviously, you will look for recommendations so, let me tell you one right here - Idlewild books Spanish classes.
Idlewild is a travel bookstore located in Midtown Manhattan but its Brooklyn bookstore offers courses in the Spanish language. As mentioned by a reputed magazine, Idlewild Spanish classes & courses are the best.
In addition to providing Spanish language classes, they have a small section of Spanish and French books which caters to the needs of both children and adults.
The point behind mentioning Idlewild bookstore is that you can get your hands on Spanish books as well as learn the Spanish language from one of the best Spanish classes in New York.
Timings : Tue, Wed 1pm - 6 pm, Sat - 12pm - 4pm
Address: 249 Warren St, Brooklyn, NY 11201
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bx-zone.com
Let’s say if you have a lot of Spanish books on your bookshelf that you have read at least twice and now you need to make room for more Spanish reads then what you should do?
In my opinion, you should sell your used Spanish books to make money that you can use to buy a few more books.
Your used books will go to worthy readers and in exchange, you will get decent money.
But how you are going to sell your used Spanish books in New York City to legitimate worthy readers? Through bx-zone.com
Bx-zone is a used bookstore in NYC that you can use to sell your old Spanish books to people living around you from the comfort of your home. The best part is that you don’t have to pay any commission or convenience fee to bx-zone.
All you have to do is use the ‘sell my books’ option and list your books in their used bookstore. Once you receive interest emails, you can use the contact details to fix the deal with the buyer and sell your books.
The transaction happens offline between you and the buyer, thus the money comes directly into your pocket.
Timings: 24x7
Address: www.bx-zone.com
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Human Relations
In East Williamsburg, Bushwick neighborhood, the Human relations bookstore is located.
The physical area of ‘Human Relations’ may not be huge but the collection of books inside this bookstore is no less in comparison to the book collection of any bookstore in Midtown Manhattan.
A great feature of this bookstore is its Spanish book-section that provides you some stunningly popular Spanish books written by famous Latino authors and popular Spanish authors.
You will find graphic novels, fiction, non-fiction, and many other genres of books in its Spanish section which you must check out.
For all bibliophiles living in Brooklyn or Queens, this nearby bookstore will help you get your hands on some rare collectibles which you won’t find in any other bookstore.
The best feature of this NYC bookstore is the esoteric section in which you will find books of religion and mysticism, occult, shamanism, sci-fi.
As a book reader when you want to try something new then the esoteric section of ‘Human Relations’ is not going to disappoint you. The bookstore is full of some cult classics of the 70s and the 80s too.
Timings: 12 pm - 8 pm
Address: 1067 Flushing Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11237
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Final Word
The Spanish language is beautiful and you enjoy it more when you read it from books.
In New York City life is fast so, sometimes it becomes necessary that you halt for the sake of good, get inside one of these bookstores and indulge yourself in the fragrance of this beautiful language.
For beginner learners, the visit to these Spanish bookstores will be helpful and if you are a Hispanic or Latino or a Spaniard then these bookstores will surely make you nostalgic.
So, have you visited any of these bookstores? How was your experience there?
Also, do you know any other Spanish bookstore in New York City that I missed in this article? If yes, then do let me know about it as I will add it to the article.
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