• Posman Books

  75 Ninth Ave., nr. 16th St.; 212-627-0304

  The family-owned Posman is an indie mini-chain with the clout of a megachain. Its three branches—Grand Central, Chelsea Market, and Rockefeller Center—have won over readers from tween Hunger Games obsessives to highbrow jet-setters with their exhaustive selection and well-curated event programming. After a five-month renovation, the 2,200-square-foot Chelsea Market outpost is now also a nucleus for all things food: cookbooks, chef memoirs, and sumptuously photographed coffee-table books. Posman Chelsea has also elevated its literature and nonfiction racks—both dotted with daily-changing staff picks—from good to excellent and punched up its children’s section, now outfitted with kid-level cubbies and beanbag seating.

From the 2012 Best of New York issue of New York Magazine