Read Dating: 8 Books You’ll Want to Take Home
You don’t even have to buy these reads dinner first…
As many New Yorkers already know, Strand Bookstore is the number one first date spot. We decided to cut out the middle man that is every dating app and invite bibliophiles into our Rare Book Room for three glorious nights of speed dating (W4W, M4M, & W4M + M4W). In preparation for the upcoming literary love fest, we picked up some hot new releases and answered some speed dating-style questions about each one. If you like one, you can pick it up in store and safely tell your friends and family “we met at Strand.”
1. What We Lose by Zinzi Clemmons
Q: What three words best describe you? Why?
A: Stunning, powerful, and haunting. I like to discuss themes like race and self-discovery. Even death is not a topic that is off-limits to me.
2. Goodbye, Vitamin by Rachel Khong
Q: What do you think about family?
A: Family is important, but if you have erratic parents, you’ll find your journey fraught with love, loss, and a maybe even humor.
3. Fierce Kingdom by Gin Phillips
Q: How do you feel about children?
A: Motherhood is difficult, especially when you get into tense, life-threatening situations with your child and are forced to make quick decisions that impact their life.
4. The Lying Game by Ruth Ware
Q: How important is honesty to you?
A: Honesty is important within friend groups, but outside of your circle, anything goes if you’re willing to face the consequences.
5. Dark Matter by Blake Crouch
Q: In general, are you happy with your life?
A: I’m not sure. The last time I was asked that question, a masked abductor knocked me unconscious, and I woke up living a completely different life than the one I knew.
6. Vanishing New York: How a Great City Lost Its Soul by Jeremiah Moss
Q: How do you like living in New York?
A: TBH, it’s not what it used to be. New York used to be a mecca for artists, writers, and other creatives, but now because of gentrification, it has become an expensive, barely livable metropolis.
7. A Life of Adventure and Delight by Akhil Sharma
Q: What makes for a meaningful relationship?
A: Compassion and concern are at the center of any meaningful relationship, I feel. You can be in an arranged marriage, for example, and suddenly realize you love your partner because you decided to care for them.
8. Meddling Kids: A Novel by Edgar Cantero
Q: What did you like to do growing up?
A: Well, I had this group of friends, and we would all solve mysteries every summer. So much fun! I actually wanted to be a detective when I grew up, until this one summer where things got…creepy.
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