Bookworms Unite

stewart Lewis Reporting
city Life Reporter

Slewis@wcbs880.com

NEW YORK (WCBS) -- Lets face it, we all need alternatives to bars and clubs. Sometimes just being in the right indie bookstore makes you feel cool, or at least more intellectual than your meathead cousin. Barnes and Noble, bite me. Here are three bookstores that are all worth the trip:

1) Hue Man bookstore in the heart of Harlem has 4,000 square feet of mostly books by African American authors...and it allows customers to mingle, browse, eat, drink, and maybe run into frequent celebrities who love the place including Toni Morrison and Bill Clinton. A current bestseller is Michelle Obama's biography. Love her, but that green dress she wore at her acceptance speech was just wrong. Somebody fire her stylist please.

2) 192 Books (pictured above) in Chelsea doubles as an art gallery, which is a cool concept. Why not browse books and artwork at the same time? They also hold interesting events.

3) Freebird books in Brooklyn's trendy Cobble Hill, specializes in used books, and it seems to be a little bit of a pick up joint as well. Who knows what flirty eyes may be flashing above the book jackets...just be sure the book you're pretending to read is right side up:)

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