By: Hope Lawrence, Social Media Manager
Independent Bookstore Day 2025 brought us to a new borough: Brooklyn! Kings County is much more vast than Manhattan, offering a larger selection of bookstores. The weather forecast was concerning but thankfully, it wasn’t a repeat of IBD 2023. When we say, “rain or shine”, we mean it!
We explored the Fort Greene, Boerum Hill and Carrol Gardens neighborhoods that are home to Greenlight Bookstore, Center for Fiction, Books are Magic and Liz’s Book Bar. Each store featured substantial fiction and non-fiction sections while Liz’s lacked a YA and children’s reading space because it doubles as a coffee and wine bar. All independent bookstores across the borough (and city) were buzzing with people while some featured small events and meetings with authors.
Greenlight Bookstore located at 686 Fulton Street, Brooklyn, NY
Greenlight had several subsections, including the classics, memoirs, black voices and subjects that really make one ponder on the state of self and society.
Center for Fiction located at 15 Lafayette Avenue, Brooklyn, NY
Just a short walk away was Center for Fiction, which featured its own extensive collection of titles that literally towered to the high ceilings! Center for Fiction also houses a small café and a City of Women map designed after the NYC subway map right at the entrance. This store also has a member-only second floor for various events and workshops.
Books are Magic located at 225 Smith Street, Brooklyn, NY
Our third stop was Book are Magic, to which we took a quick bus/train ride to get to. This location also featured some of the same titles as other stores but also displays short reviews for some of the more notable titles. This location also probably had the biggest of the children’s reading space out of the previous two stores, listing various events for young readers. We even spotted a Little Library outside the store!
Liz’s Book Bar located at 315 Smith Street, Brooklyn, NY
Our final stop just a few blocks down was Liz’s Book Bar. Given that this store doubles as a coffee and wine bar, spacing was narrow compared to the other stores but offered a seated space to read newly purchased books with a latte or rosé, or simply enjoying either with friends discussing their favorite titles of the favorite genres. The owner, Maura Cheeks, is an author herself with Acts of Forgiveness being on display.
For next year, shall we stay in Brooklyn or venture back to Manhattan? Guess we’ll see then!
