In literature, some cities become living, breathing characters. Such is certainly the case of Los Angeles in the crime novels of Raymond Chandler, in which shadowed "mean streets," as Chandler once put it, echo the dark souls who inhabit an underworld bereft of California's golden promises. It is impossible to see the images in Emmy-winning director and photographer Daniel Sackheim's new book "The City Unseen," without imagining the noir-ish LA of Chandler. Sackheim captures desolated alleys and isolated corners in a play of darkness and light. "My earliest recollection is of being most at ease observing from the margins," he notes.

  Late last month, American booksellers hit a major milestone. Across the United States, 2,000 bookshops celebrated Independent Bookstore Day—breaking participation records. Based on trends from early 2026, the independent bookstore scene in NYC remains strong, with at least 34 independent bookstores in Brooklyn alone participating in the 2026 Brooklyn Bookstore Crawl last month. Above: The Lit.Bar, 131 Alexander Avenue, Mott Haven, The Bronx, ...