P.S. Bookshop

AMAZING bookstore. Great selection. Great energy. Great location. Brooklyn at its best.

The fact that a bookstore like this exists in DUMBO is a tribute to both the entrepreneurship and creativity of the people who’ve made Brooklyn their home. It’s a cavernous bookshop which simultaneously feels cozy and warm. The art section alone is worth visiting-​I have yet to find another shop where there’s an entire section devoted to sculpture! So many fantastic rare and used books which you probably won’t find anywhere else-​or if you do, it will be several different places.
Another feature worthy of praise is the children’s section, which was crowded the day I visited-​partly because there was a local musician/​storyteller entertaining neighborhood kids. The fact that P. S. is reaching out to the families of young readers is fantastic, and is a practice that should be emulated by every independent bookstore. I stumbled upon this business completely by chance and am glad that I did. Anyone strolling towards the Brooklyn Bridge should spend at least a few minutes browsing through their stacks of books.

I would have walked out with 4 – 5 books but only purchased 1. The prices are too high. $ 3.00 for an old paperback? One book was marked $ 1.00 inside that they were reselling for $ 4.99. Not the most convenient neighborhood to get to and so no need to go back. Brooklyn lacks a really good bookstore (good being subjective). I would love to see a secondhand paperback warehouse type of store with thousands of books in all genres. The closest store to this in Brooklyn that sells paperbacks is Here’s A Bookstore and it’s too dirty with most of the books damaged and hard to get to. It’s something I would love to do. Maybe one day.

Cozy, casual atmosphere. They had the books I needed for an Asian philosophy class at a good price. They seemed to have a good collection of classics– I will definitely be back!

Great place to find vintage books, photo albums, and uncommon postcards. The ambience is there, too. DUMBO is a mixture of an old New York and very contemporary updates, including art galleries almost across the street from the store. Next time you’re in DUMBO, don’t hesitate to stop by the P. S. Bookshop!

Came in here with some time to kill. I was really impressed by how many nooks and corners were covered in books, and the tall bookshelves made you feel warmly encompassed by books.
I wish there were a few more places to sit and get cozy.
Definitely a quirky store. You’ll find some interesting books here, as you can tell a lot of care went into much of the selection.
Unpretentious and unique.

Such a cool collection!!! I found books on architecture, travel, languages, and learning languages =) Great area, come by and browse, I’m sure you’ll find something that will appeal to your taste.
The books are fairly priced, and there is also a ‘sales’ rack for deal steals! I’ll definitely come here whenever I’m in DUMBO. I found some inspiring selections here.
The shop itself is very spacy, and I wish they’d be a bit more space-​efficient– they have room for more stock! So much wasted space, in my opinion. However, you don’t feel crowded, nor ‘watched’- you can freely look at everything, and there is plenty to browse for =)

I visited this (used) bookstore today. The interior is spacious & airy and the selection is fairly eclectic. However, a lot of the books were in rather poor condition compared to most used books I’ve seen at other stores. In addition, the young woman working there never said a word to me.

I could have spent hours in this store if it wasn’t such a gorgeous day out. There are multiple genres throughout the store. Shelves are filled and filled with books, some sections having a ladder to get to them. This reminded me of Beauty and the Beast when Belle goes to get a book. They have postcards, magnets and other Brooklyn items. They buy books, but only for a small amount and only buy a few. The books are cheap and I was happy to see an Italian section! Great store where you can go relax and just read in the corner if you want. I will definitely be back!

This is a terrific bookstore, man. Incredible selection. Had exactly the edition of Sartre’s No Exit that I wanted, and for only $ 4! (Yeah, I just wanted you to know that I read plays by Sartre. ‘Cause I’m classy. Just kidding, I don’t read them, I just buy them. I might read them later! You don’t know! And neither do I!)
I’ll save you a couple valuable seconds that you would otherwise waste reading the signs on the doors: go through that one. No, not the one with the sign that says «Use other door» with an arrow. The one next to it, with the arrow pointing at it and the sign that says «USE THIS DOOR.» Right, that one.

Found this when we were strolling around the area. It has that old jazzy vibe, a relax setting, the music, the postcards, the books. They sell new and used books. I didn’t really check out the price, but I did compare one old edition book that I’m interested in, their price were pretty competitive.
Hope this kind of book store will stay open…
ps: do check the surrounding first before you sit on the white sofa, there might be a white small dog (same color as the sofa) also sitting on it: D

I love independent bookstores.
I love gliding my hands through a shelf, fingers feeling the spines of each book.
This bookshop doesn’t seem like much from the outside but go on in and you feel like you’ve stepped back in time. It’s slightly disorganized but in a charming way. I just wanted to browse the shelves, with no intention of buying, so I can’t say how the service was here.

What lovely little place! Lots of floor to ceiling completely full bookshelves, a little like how you always imagine great used book shops. They have a huge selection of art books old and new. The fiction section is a little disorganized (but again, in a bookish way). The only thing missing is a little shop cat!
Plus I found an advance copy of Girl With the Sturgeon Tattoo (a parody of you know what) used for $ 6! it’s only coming out in September. Totally unbelievable and exciting.
One star off because the shop clerks really weren’t terribly friendly or helpful, although I didn’t really seek out their advice.

It is a good place to go regularly and check their random stock. But you have to have plenty of time and loose/​open schedule to make it a habit.
The store has a huge volume and you have to be prepared if you are looking for a specific title that you are determined to recover, though. I love the area and am pleased to have a store as this so that I can occasionally check out and buy whatever comes my way by chance. If they have any better way to organize in order for customers to spot titles easier, and if the clerk/​store owner figure was any easier person to talk to – he seems not into customer service at all – I would have given one more star and motivated actually to visit there and buy more.

Good enough for a neighborhood store– PS has a big selection, which is good for broswers. I, however, tend to like my used bookstores to be a bit more manicured, a bit more curated. Truth be told, PS seems to have a lot of stuff that isn’t that exciting (especially in the non-​fiction section) and that looks like it doesn’t move that quickly. The other downside is that the prices seem high — I found a hard-​covered Siri Hustvedt book and then discovered that it was $ 12.95. In an era where Amazon sells nearly every used book for under $ 5, $ 12.95 just feels like way too much even though I live and breathe supporting indie bookstores.

I found a used copy of ‘the girl with the dragon tattoo’ here (unheard of)!!! Plus, I was greeted by an adorable yellow lab at the door. There are so many wonderful used books in this shop– I could easily waste… err…spend a few hours here.
I’m glad they relocated from their original location further down on Front Street. I’m sure their new corner spot (i.e., prime dumbo real estate) has increased their customer flow. They definitely deserve the extra traffic.

Imagine you just went out with the most interesting date. He or she was very good looking, smarter than you*, not a fashion plate but put together well and they seemed to have all things you were looking for… and they liked you too. However, when you were around them for an extended amount of time you also realized that they were always running late, were disorganized and were ok with that. Ah the frustration… on the one hand they are really hot, but they also misplaced their credit card twice at dinner. What to do?
There are some places that are amazing and frustrating at the same time and I find P. S. Bookshop to be one of these places. Just browsing I saw many interesting art books, as well as several other genres. I can tell that this used book paradise has things that I want inside its walls, I just have a hard time figuring out how to get them if I don’t see them or ask someone.
The reason behind alphabetical construction and the dewey decimal system were to make things** easier to find. Even if the place had been open for two days, yellow post-​its to label the sections is not overly helpful or easy to read. There were boxes of books just lying around in certain sections with no rhyme or reason. There are tons of kids books and they were literally piled on top of one another and arranged mildly into pseudo-​sections, but not much more.
I am all for DIY style, but a bookstore of any kind needs to have some kind of easy way for a patron to find something on their own. I am guessing they get a lot of books in and might not have the staff to go through them and arrange them every day, but this place is kind of a mess.
While considering writing this review I thought about the incident in California where someone wrote a Unilocal review of a bookstore and then the owner came to his house after harassing him so please, P. S. Bookshop, do not take this the wrong way***. I want to like you and I still think you are pretty cool, I think you have some awesome books and a nice store in a nice spot in DUMBO. I just think to succeed as any kind of bookstore, the organizational end needs some work. Also, a kids area needs to be secured or marked off better because I tripped over toys (and books) three times while trying to help my daughter find a book.
Just like the date though I want to go back. This is the perfect bookstore to browse in because the randomness can be quite fun and the selection seems to be quite eclectic.
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* If you are not that smart, think smarter than your smartest friend for this analogy.
** book in particular
*** Don’t e-​stalk me or get real mad inside, don’t try to ban my entrance, don’t throw darts at my little Unilocal thumbnail and don’t try to find me.

I simply adore this bookstore. If you live in the area, P. S. Bookshop is the perfect place to go when you are looking for an escape from the chaos of NYC life, work, family, etc and relax.
I rarely go in looking for a specific book, as this is the charm of used bookstores, and always come out with some beautiful edition of a fairly hard-​to-​find book.
All of the books are in good condition, and the prices are great.
I simply can’t imagine P. S. Bookshop not being in DUMBO. I hope more people take advantage of this place.

The first time I came here I was lost trying to find this party a friend invited me to. Well, I never made the party but stayed in P. S. for 1.5 hours looking through some great photography technique and coffee table books. Every time I go back there’s another great book to buy, or even just gaze through.
This is a perfect lil’ neighborhood bookstore.

Do you remember the bookstore scene in «Annie Hall»?
ALVY: I’ve a very pessimistic view of life. You should know this about me if we’re gonna go out, you know. I-​I-​I feel that life is-​is divided up into the horrible and the miserable.
ANNIE: M’hm.
ALVY: Those are the two categories …
ANNIE: M’hm.
ALVY: … you know, they’re– The-​the horrible would be like, uh, I don’t know, terminal cases, you know?
ANNIE: M’hm.
ALVY: And blind people, crippled …
ANNIE: Yeah.
ALVY: I don’t-don’t know how they get through life. It’s amazing to me.
ANNIE: M’hm.
ALVY: You know, and the miserable is everyone else. That’s-that’s all. So-​so when you go through life you should be thankful that you’re miserable, because that’s– You’re very lucky … to be …(Overlapping Annie’s laughter) … to be miserable.
ANNIE: U-​huh.
Strolling through Brooklyn’s rejuvenated DUMBO area (…OK, I didn’t know that acronym stood for «Down Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass», but I want to sound trendy in a local way) after a hearty lunch at the River Café, I stopped at this indie bookstore and thought about Alvy and Annie contemplating nihilism in that bookstore.
An immediately warm vibe came over me, especially as I heard the familiar strains of «Itsy Bitsy Spider» from the children’s area (see photo). It was Harry Chapin come back from the dead. Lotsa books neatly organized on tall wooden shelving units. Also lotsa books about the local area and history. We had limited time to browse, but I would definitely hang out on the sofa in the back (see photo) and chill for a while.
Long live the independent bookstore!