For the last month, the downtown annex of Strand Books has been offering fifty percent off all its merchandise because the lease on the Manhattan financial district office space was scheduled to run out at the end of next week. Now comes word that a lease extension has granted the Strand an extra month on Fulton Street—the sale continues.

Quick question: Once Strand Books closes on Fulton, is there another independent bookstore in Manhattan south of McNally Jackson on Prince Street? (Update: A writer in Tribeca reminds me about the Mysterious Bookshop—"one of the best bookstores in the city, with a great great staff"—and as soon as he mentioned that one, I remembered Sufi Books, the spiritually-focused bookstore on West Broadway.)