By Moren Mao

It’s no secret that as digital media continues to dominate our attention spans, readership of physical books has been steadily declining. A study published last year found that reading for pleasure in the U.S. has dropped by nearly 40%. As a result – and perhaps accelerated by the pandemic – mom-and-pop bookstores have been among the hardest hit. Over the past decade, even major chains like Barnes & Noble have struggled to stay afloat. Against this backdrop, bookstores dedicated to Chinese-language and diaspora media have become even rarer.

Growing up in New York’s various Chinatowns, Chinese bookstores never felt scarce to me; they were familiar neighborhood landmarks. But in the years following the pandemic, rising rents and shrinking readership have taken their toll. Like so many cultural institutions, these spaces are quietly disappearing. For now, though, Yu & Me Books and Eastern Bookstore are here to stay.

Yu & Me Books

Yu & Me Books is run by Lucy Yu and holds the distinction of being NYC’s first women-owned Asian American bookstore. Step inside, and it feels like a homey retreat from the city’s perpetual chaos. The lighting is dim, the space cozy, with a wall of carefully curated books lining the room, and a large central table featuring top picks. Yu & Me also sells coffee, beer, merchandise, and small trinkets, making it a good place to linger and explore. Downstairs, a few couches sit alongside a plaque remembering the fire that destroyed the bookstore’s original location in 2023.

Eastern Bookstore

On the opposite end of the spectrum is Eastern Bookstore. Nearly half a century old, the store feels almost warehouse-like in scale – several times larger than Yu & Me – and remains one of the last entirely Chinese-language bookstores in the city.

To read the entire article: https://radii.co/article/nyc-enduring-chinese-bookstores

Photo credit: Horizon206, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons