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Some bookstores lure you in with their homey, overstuffed furniture and their cozy little book-lined nooks and crannies. Archivia Books, which specializes in visual and applied arts books, takes a more chic, minimalist approach. Its bright, open rectangle of a store contains polished maple shelves, sleek marble countertops, white leather Eames chairs and an orange-hued carpet that was inspired from Christo Gates’ installation in Central Park. Upper Eastsiders might remember the original Madison Avenue store next to the Whitney, Archivia: the Decorative Arts Book Shop, which was owned by Cynthia Conigliaro and Joan Gersand and was a favorite with design cognoscenti. The new Archivia Books, which is run solely by Conigliaro, has a more contemporary focus—in both decor and in book selection—but still features many books from hard-to-find domestic and foreign publishers as well as several out-of-print titles. It too looks poised to become a hit: recent visitors included decorating mavens Charlotte Moss and Carolina Irving.

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Argosy is one of those, now rare, quirky little bookstores that can’t be replicated elsewhere. Signature items here are rare and out-of-print books—the beautiful leather-bound ones that some use purely for aesthetic purposes—and historical maps and autographs. The interior, which many say resembles an old library has a dark, dusty feel that hard-core booklovers (many of whom are initially drawn to the heavily-discounted offerings on the tables outside) will surely find cool. To view the rarer collections located on the upper floors, you must make an appointment with the knowledgeable (and often, rather appropriately, bespectled) staff.

Since 1985, Rizzoli has occupied an historic three-story townhouse in midtown and the building’s dark wooden shelves and spiraling staircases, iron chandeliers, and tall glass windows add to the established Italian bookstore’s intellectual-elegant vibe. Equally stylish fashion and design books are a specialty here, but there is also a wide array of fiction, foreign language (especially Italian), architecture, music, dance, cooking and gardening titles, a heavily-edited music section on the third floor, and, for Italophiles and ex-pats, a handful of imported daily newspapers from Rome.

The first U.S. outpost by the venerable British company, Smythson is located on 57th Street and the beautiful boutique is a welcome respite from Midtown bustle. You can find everything from fine stationery and whimsical notebooks to the company’s high-quality leather accessories, including travel wallets, jewelry boxes and handbags in gorgeous colors.

To read more about Indagare’s special gift program in collaboration with Smythson, featuring such items as luggage tags, passport covers and picture frames, click here.

The much beloved, family-owned Strand Books is the last surviving member of what used to be Book Row. Browsing through its miles and miles of new, used and rare books here on Sunday is as much a New York tradition as eating bagels and lox.

As Barnes and Noble becomes as ubiquitous in the city as Starbucks, the Corner Bookstore is the type of quaint little neighborhood bookshop that inspires romance in so many book lovers; it was also supposedly the inspiration behind the bookstore in the modern fairytale film, You’ve Got Mail. Its shelves and tables contain an impressive number of parenting, children’s and travel books as well as many classics and carefully chosen contemporary reads (both fiction and non-fiction).