Spoonbill & Sugartown Booksellers
Category: Bookstores [Edit]
218 Bedford Ave(between 4th St & 5th St)
Brooklyn, NY 11211 (718) 387-7322
- Nearest Transit:
Bedford Ave (L)
- Hours:
Mon-Sun 10:00 a.m.-10:00 p.m. - Price Range: $$
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Parking: Street
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
25 Reviews for Spoonbill & Sugartown Booksellers
there are few things more precious to me than a good bookstore and this place is that, my friend. on the tiny side, spoonbill is nonetheless packed full of literary goodies. they have an awesome selection of fantastic art books that will put both a dent in your coffee table and your wallet. they also have a really good array of magazines that are obscure, local, hard-to-find or held together with spit and tears (or all of these). wonderful selection of used books, vastly great piles of paperbacks and a handsome cat that lounges around. the prices are good, sometimes a bit steep on some of the used books, but you're supporting a rad local bookstore. which counts, damnit! a great place to get a gift for someone as well-tons of cute postcards, moleskine notebooks and novelty books for when you have to get something fast or for someone you really don't know very well. god, i love this place.
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In short: I love the art books, but where are the chairs?
The titles are aimed at contemporary arts lovers who aren't sure what they're looking for, especially those with a penchant for modernism. And for a shop that doesn't specialize in photography or visual arts, the variety and quality of both new and used art merch is impressive. But while the journal/magazine selection isn't bad, their selection on foreign titles and obscure art and fashion mags is getting a run for its cred by the Bedford deli next door to Blackbird and the lit mags are tragically shuffled into an isolated corner by the front door. For most fiction titles the street vendors are often a better deal and the humiliation of squeezing into a child's rocking chair to flip through prospective purchases might bother some. But the convenience of using a credit card or shopping on a rainy day and Williamsburg's lack of bookstores amongst the plethora of eateries and bodega bumps S&S up a notch.
I rarely go to non-used bookstores, but I keep coming back here. Why? Well, it's open late and they don't care if I browse. I've killed time waiting for many a friend to get off the train by prowling the aisles of this small, well-stocked bookstore.
They *do* have used books on carts outside as well as tucked away in various spots inside, and I have bought some of those-- though they are almost always more expensive than I'd like. They have a nice used drama section, though-- there's almost always something I'd like to own in it.
The real highlight is the cats. I think there are two, but maybe there are more-- my favorite is a fat little tortoiseshell with something possibly wrong with his front legs. He kind of waddles when he walks and looks bowlegged. He's freaking adorable and (shh) is about 75% of the reason I come in here.
Cats, books... I mean, good stuff. I am intimidated by the too-hip rack of magazines in the front (are they magazines? Half of them don't have names. I don't know.) and some of the hipper merch, but basically...this place is solid.
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I love bookstores, and to write a negative review of one takes a lot.
The people who work here are almost hilariously unhelpful. And consistently. It seems you must be a bilious, cantakerous, imbittered, arrogant hipster to work here.
The bookstore itself is pleasant, but the experience is ultimately unpleasant.
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Typography books in the window, they know my heart.
so nice to see a bookstore that is not all about Oprah's book club or Tuscan style living.
Good assortment of books from McSweeney's too.
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Such a great bookstore. It is small but great for people who like to hunt for used books. My boyfriend and I have a difficult time finding decently-priced French books and this place always has a ton. You really have to hunt for them along the back wall and underneath the shelves, but it is well worth it.
I wouldn't go here if you are looking for a well-known penguin classics-type novel since their fiction section is mostly contemporary and used books. This place IS great for harder-to-find and small press novels, theory, art books, and magazines. A nice collection of notebooks too.
I really recommend this place for anyone who loves searching a little bit, definitely go back at least once a week.
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i had one of those lazy, nothing-to-do saturdays last weekend and was wandering around my neighborhood. after seeing some unique books in the window, i decided to step into spoonbill and get out of the heat for a while. i was there for 2 hours....
i'm one of those pathetic types that could literally spend all day in barnes and noble (and yes, i try to hate the corporate-ness of it, but let's face it, if you like books you can't deny it). anyway, spoonbill has that quaint quirkiness of a neighborhood bookshop along with the eccentric compilation of an owner who will read anything. after rummaging through some funky local books (if you like local photography, go here!), i stumbled upon a few random cats who wander around, and then found the middle table full of randoms.
overall, the book store is sort of like this review--all over the place but still full of fun :)
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It felt mediocre to me...
Maybe I am spoiled by San Francisco bookstores...
But I completely appreciated their chubby cat that would roll over every time I tried to step sideways.
My company was charming.
So begins the great book "Venus In Furs" by Leopold Von-Sacher Masoch. The genius who thus gave us the word masochism. Similar to Brandonism which I now give you, but I ask no condolence, I'm just a hopeless romantic. I only suggest that you not overlook the back wall and any nooks/crannies at Spoonbill & Sugartown.
It was here I found the first US printing of Venus in Furs, in very good condition for what is clearly a heavily fondled book (since 1947). It was like 12 bucks too.
If you ever want to buy me a present go ahead and check there. Great niche bookstore.
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Not the perfect bookstore (whatever that is), but a damn fine addition to the neighborhood. S&S is a great place to go to discover something you didn't know you were looking for. Some other reviewers complained about price, which surprises me a bit because
(a) there's no competition in the neighborhood at all, thus demand is much greater than supply.
(b) The focus of this bookstore is not discounted books, but rather interesting books. If the area is going to have one book seller, wouldn't you rather have it this way? I would.
Snobbery was mentioned in previous reviews. I can understand where those reviewers are coming from, but I think that at S&S, it's more inattentiveness than snobbery. Definitely not the place to go if you like to have your hand held as you shop.
And I second Christine L.-- fat kitties are a definite pro.
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Someone else already beat me to it-- it's not the selection; it's the price.
I've been inside of her a good number of times. Looked at a couple of things longingly. And every single time, I walked out empty handed. It's not to say that I'm that cheap (or at least I hope not), or that it's that expensive, it's really more of an unexpected pricing. I guess with a lot of independent bookstores and other viable options, you get used to intriguing books being marked off. And you get used to going to sleek mod looking bookstores for the books on art, design, and such. And, really, in the end, I just rationalize, "I bet I could get that elsewhere."
Fun to look through, yes. But nothing more than that.
P.S.:
They do have really delightful postcards.
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PROS: KITTIES! FAT KITTIES! ART BOOKS! JOHN BALDESSARI! POSTCARDS! JOURNALS! VERB CAFE NEXT DOOR!
CONS: Prices. Snobby, if not pretentious, staff. No place to sit. Sometimes you end up with cat hair on your new John Baldessari book.
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This is one of my favorite bookstores ever. I love the display tables; they're stocked with a rotating selection of intriguing books. The selection is incredibly well-picked for the size of the space. The staff is super knowledgeable and awesome. The cats are really fat. As well as new books, they've also got a pretty nice selection of used ones. Support your local independent bookseller!
I'm not incredibly interested in art and design, which accounts for the minus one star for this place. If I were: holy geez, this would be heavenly! Still, despite the fact that they're a little heavy on the art books and a little light on the novels and non-fiction, I do enjoy walking the creaky floorboards of this place every now and then.
While the new books are a little pricey, the novels on the back shelves are very reasonably priced for used books, and they actually have a good selection. The staff is very nice and chatty if they like the book you're buying!
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An excellent independent bookstore with a great selection of art, design, short run, and local publications. When I used to live in Williamsburg, I'd come by to buy and sell used books. I also admire their fancy blank book selection.
This is the store where i discovered Butt Magazine. Ahhh, Butt. Doesn't get any better than Butt.
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So glad this bookstore is in my hood. It's fantastic. Whether you're looking for a gift for yourself or someone else, or just some inspiration, you will find it X 1000. It's VERY difficult for me to leave there empty-handed.
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"I've been to Sugartown, I shook the sugar down"
Yes, that's actually printed on their bookmarks. I love the selection in this bookstore. From art books to independent press titles, to the latest Cormac McCarthy book, this place has it all.
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I love the kinds of books that this well-sized shop stocks. But for the life of me, I just don't like this bookstore. I'm much more prone to stop by twice a year to browse the main displays than I am to actually ever buy anything here, and I feel kind of bad about that.
Why don't I like this intelligent, independent used and new bookstore? It can't be their selection: They have great taste in art, design, and culture books. It might be because of their pricing: The prices are high, but then, some of the books are shorter runs or imports. And it might be because practically all they have are higher priced art and design books.
The shop's not overly precious or pretentious, but it doesn't leave much room for the general reader -- or Brooklyn designers and writers on a budget that precludes coffee table books or $20 pamphlets.
All that said, god love 'em. And more power to 'em.
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A nice little bookseller on Bedford Ave, this bookstore specializes in numerous old-looking paperbacks, books on art, books on film, and magazines that no one reads. The pricing is pretty decent; I was able to find the book on the Rauschenberg Combines show that the Met was selling for around thirty dollars cheaper. The people there aren't the friendliest, but I don't go there to socialize. Warning to those with pet allergies: they do have a few cats roaming around.
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It's not often these days that people name their stores so well (East Village Books is great, but the name is just so obvious), but Spoonbill & Sugartown takes the cake. It's also a very good store. It manages to simultaneously have that clean gallery/art bookstore feel and the musty creaky used bookstore feel. They have shelves of odd yet wonderful used books (a 1955 gilt-edged copy of a Benjamin Franklin essay on printers for $5, a great 70s paperback copy of Colette's essays for $6, used art catalogs), stacks of fresh new art mags, and all the art books you could want in one go. They also have great little notebooks and used postcards and handmade art cards.
So, admittedly, I was just killing time one day and FINALLY went in to this place after just looking at the door for years, and I was pleasantly surprised that I wasn't struck dead by pretension and an art-house type vibe. :)
I thought the fiction section (my favorite) could have been a bit bigger, but I did appreciate the range of genres that they had. Also, I had never actually seen Sweet Action before (they had it), and I felt oh-so-hip by thumbing through it.
Good waste of an hour. And I don't often say that!
Very cool bookstore. It looks like everything here will cost you a month's rent money, but stuff is actually affordable. Strange selections. But interesting.
Coffee table book heaven! Architecture, photography, art, design, crazy 'zines and micellaneous selections that you might not understand completely, but look damn good when the visitors come.
Watch out - the cats are NOT fake!
a little slice of Berkeley, ca in Williamsburg, ny
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That big striped cat chased my dog out of there once! But I don't hold it against the place.
They have some sexy magazines, but biographies are my thing and they don't have tons of them.
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