There are still a few under-the-radar places where you can quietly browse or haul home a stack of books.

Brazenhead Books, bookseller/collector Michael Seidenberg’s “secret” book nook, was born when the rent got out of control at his Brooklyn-based retail bookstore. Seidenberg moved the business to his first floor apartment, and his tiny, sub-legal bookstore operates nearly incognito, even to some neighbors in his Upper East Side building. Browsing is by appointment only, but—as is usually the case—underground status has actually been good for business, with book-noscenti throughout the world adding his shop to their reading lists (New Yorker). The books at the Coney Island Bookstore and Barber Shop might be more of a grab bag, but the only appointment you’ll have to make is for a haircut (Flavorwire). OHWOW Book Club is part of a bi-coastal gallery collective that includes the work of art-world darlings like Terence Koh and Ryan McGinley. Feel free to judge the books and other “cultural projects” at this black-and-white-tiled, 150 square-foot Greenwich Village jewel box by their covers; they were created with design in mind.

If you’re more borrower than buyer, don’t miss the Terence Cardinal Cooke Cathedral Branch of the New York Public Library. It’s easy to do, though: The subterranean reading room is hidden in plain sight next to a Metrocard machine by the turnstile entrance to the 6 train at Lexington Avenue and 50th Street. There’s no sign, but the unusual outpost gets its share of attention from curious commuters–some of whom come in to ask for help with the Metrocard machine (NYTimes). If you’re serious about books–or bargains, with most books at $2 or less, and proceeds going to the NYPL, visit the Book Cellar at Webster Library. Generations of Upper East Side collections have been bequeathed to this bookstore-in-a-library-basement, which has led to its being one of the city’s lesser-known, better-stocked treasure troves.