blogfrombookstores:

Blogging From: The Book Revue

[The Book Revue’s] discount tables are the main contributing component to the fact that I have more books than I actually know what to do with.

This may come as a shock to you, but I’m not a millionaire. I try to be somewhat frugal, (which is hard to do when it comes to books) but when I pay a visit to The Book Revue, it is extremely rare occurrence if I don’t leave with at least two new books in hand. But most times, it’s like five. Call it excessive, but when the books are this affordable it’s hard not to be glutinous. It’s so hard! (Continue Reading)

blogfrombookstores:

Blogging From: Idle Time & Tryst

No one told me that parking my car in D.C. would give me severe anxiety. It’s not because of the traffic or anything like that. It’s because none of the Pay to Park stations work! I had finally found a legal curbside parking space, only to find that I wasn’t really able to make it “legal” because of stupid failed technology’s inability to allow me to pay for it. Seriously, people. It’s almost 2012. We have robots in space  and iPads! I don’t think a working Pay to Park Station is too much to ask for. You’d think our nation’s capitol would be much more efficient, right? HA!

For this reason, today’s “Blogging From” post is a combination recap of my time at  Idle Time Books and Tryst, all of which was spent playing the game of, “How Long Can I Last Before I Break Into a Serious Sweat Wondering Weather or Not I’ve Received a Parking Ticket I Can’t Afford for Something Completely Out of My Control.” (Continue Reading)

blogfrombookstores:

Blogging From: Politics and Prose

There’s nothing like a big, bright bookstore to brighten up a rainy day. It’s dark and gloomy outside in D.C. today, but I knew that dreary, rainy-day feeling would vanish once I stepped inside Politics and Prose. I could tell that it was going to be a bookstore  well worth my trip into D.C. before even stepping inside. I think it was the big purple awning hanging over the store front that gave it away. It was either that or the name. (Continue reading)

blogfrombookstores:

Blogging From: Busboys and Poets

Ring the bell, sound the alarm! We have a winner! OK, I guess this was never really meant to be a contest, but Busboys and Poets  definitely wins the prize for being the best establishment I have found so far that meets all of the things that I look for when I’m on the hunt for the perfect places conducive to reading and writing in public. Busboys and Poets is an independently owned restaurant and cafe that now has four different locations all around the DC Metro area. It was founded in 2005  by Anas “Andy” Shallal, an Iraqi-American artist, activist, and restaurateur, with the intentions of creating a “community gathering place.” He named the establishment for Langston Hughes, who once worked as a busboy at the Wardman Park Hotel prior to gaining recognition as a poet.

Before entering Busboys and Poets, I was expecting it to be a little more bookstore and a little less cafe. However, it happens to be much more of a cafe and restaurant than it is a bookstore. This was not a disappointing turn of events, though. (Continue reading)

blogfrombookstores:

Blogging From: Hole in the Wall Books

Bookstores with creative names, are always the best kinds of bookstores. What bookstore lover wouldn’t want to step inside of a store called Hole in the Wall Books, right? It’s funny because I think most people might shy away from any other type of establishment named after an idiom that sometimes has a bit of a negative connotation. But a bookstore with this name; it sounds like it will lead you right into a scene straight out of Alice in Wonderland! It leaves an impression that makes you feel like once you step though the door, you’ll be transported, through a hole in the wall, to a magical land of books. For the most part this is true. Minus the part about going through a hole in the wall. (Continue reading)

blogfrombookstores:

Monday on Blogging From Bookstores: Hole in the Wall Books

blogfrombookstores:

Blogging From: Kramer Books & Afterwards Cafe

Non-native DCers, who dare to enter the complicated traffic patterns of Dupont Circle often become lost and end up wandering around  the loop for some time before finding their way out. Fortunately, I didn’t have to take to the circle with my car (lord only knows I’d still be driving around it), but thanks to Kramer Books, I did get to wander and circle around quite a few bookshelves.

I don’t live in D.C., so I didn’t know, but Kramer Books is sort of  the place to be if you’re anybody who’s anybody residing in the city known as our nation’s capitol. And with good reason too. Not only is it a fully functioning bookstore with a hearty selection of books, it also houses a bar and a cafe. Books, food, and drinks. There’s not much else you need in life, so once you step inside Kramer Books, you’re pretty much good to go. (Read more)

blogfrombookstores:

Blogging From: Capitol Hill Books

Although the amount of shelves and rooms in this store seemed endless and the organization of the books isn’t always completely clear, it’s neither frustrating or annoying because there are tons of little notes that direct you happily towards whatever it is you might be looking for. Plus, browsing and searching and then finally discovering is the best part of bookstore browsing, and I can safely say that Capitol Hill Books is essentially one of the best places I have found for doing so. It’s the perfect set up for an exciting book exploration adventure. When you start, you’re not sure just what you’ll find but you know for sure that it’s going to be good. At one point I overheard a girl say to her friend, “This is like your heaven.” No, girl, this IS heaven; enough books to last a lifetime and plenty of friendly fellow book lovers to share them with. (Read more)