Three Lives & Company has been on this corner, in one form or another, since 1978 — named for both the three women who founded it and the Gertrude Stein novel — and it has never once tried to be anything other than what it is: a small, serious bookshop where the staff has read everything in stock.
The Vibe
The room is roughly 675 square feet of former deli, now lined with dark wood shelves, a patterned carpet, warm lamps, and creaking floorboards. Classical music plays softly. Inventory is tracked by pen and paper — no computer, no algorithm surfacing titles based on what you clicked last week. The red double doors on the corner of West 10th and Waverly are a landmark in themselves. Weekend afternoons draw a crowd, but the layout absorbs it; it never feels like a scrum.
What to Order
- Ask for a recommendation. The staff has read everything in stock — ask what they've finished lately and expect something you haven't heard of. This is the whole point of coming.
- The NYC section and travel shelf. Both are unusually strong for a store this size. Good place to pick up something you'll read together on the next trip.
- Skip browsing on a time crunch. The selection rewards patience. If you have ten minutes, you'll leave frustrated. Give it thirty.
When to Come
A weekday afternoon or early Saturday, before 2pm, when the store is quiet enough to actually talk to the staff. Slot it before dinner — the shop closes at 7pm — as the opener to a West Village evening. First date or fifth, this is the kind of stop that tells you immediately whether you're reading the same books.
The Bottom Line
The best fifteen minutes you can spend before dinner in the West Village, and a reliable test of whether someone is worth a second date.