I stopped by Lost City Books with a friend yesterday, when we spent a beautiful spring Sunday…read moremorning on a walk and mini bakery crawl through Adams Morgan. We both love to read and love bookshops. I love big bookshops, little bookshops, romance bookshops... Lost City Books was a wonderful surprise and immediately became one of my favorite bookshops in DC. Why? It isn't huge, but it makes such good use of its space that I found it to be one of the best stocked independent bookstores I've visited in a long while. I always try to support local independent bookstores when I can, and some of them are tiny (if your neighborhood bookstore is one of the tiny ones, remember they'll probably place orders for you if you want/need something they don't have in stock). But - at the risk of sounding silly - we got lost in time at Lost City Books. We meant to just pop in and quickly pick something to take home. But we wandered through their fiction section and staff picks, pointing out books to each other we loved or have been meaning to read and all of a sudden a half hour had passed and we only really explored one tiny section of the shop. We walked out with four books between us, too. The customer service was friendly to boot. Just a great independent bookshop and another reason to love Adams Morgan.

Great bookstore - 2 levels, tons of books, plenty of post cards and regular cards, fun merch. In…read morethe bathroom they have collages of bookmarks from many different bookstores (apparently they're from the previous owners from when it was a completely used bookstore). Friendly employees and fair prices (remember, Amazon prices out small businesses to make them close, so shop local!).

Wow! What a gem of a bookstore. We feel so blessed we ran into it while exploring Takoma Park. It…read morehas a super cute kids book nook, an excellent selection of books for all ages, and they were doing outreach programs for people to donate for teachers while we were there. The employees even helped me find some new recommendations for my son. It's a beautiful and inclusive spot.

Friends and I originally went for an incardi print, but ended up staying a while to browse and each…read moreof us ended buying additional items. I ended up getting 2 books, one of which an employee helped me find as it was something on my to-read list. Great vibes. Would love to return if I'm back in the area.

We happened to stumble across this cozy bookstore while wandering Capitol Hill. Located just by…read moreEastern Market, and across the way from a great puzzle shop, this bookstore has such a wonderful collection of unique books. The service is incredibly helpful and happy to share recommendations. The downstairs kids section is fantastic. I came here with my kids and they were just loving the store with the many bean bags, tunnels, and selection of books. I read several to them and they enjoeyd sitting around the little table and listening to me. There is a comfy couch area, where I sat for a moment and had a moment to just enjoy reading a book uninterrupted. The shop has a nice curated collection that reflects DC politics and travel, along with just some good reads.

Nice and neat bookstore with many cute gifts and additional items other than books. I loved how the…read morebooks had recommended- especially from other readers who are customers. I thought it was cool that they leave the recommendation cards out to add yourself if you want to. They had a large selection of romance books which was nice. The people who worked there were friendly as well. They have some couches in the basement to sit at and read too. Definitely worth checking out if you are looking for a new book!

Welcoming staff. Uplifting environment. Terrific selection. So much to love about this…read morebreath-of-fresh-air bookstore!

Stopped in because the shop looked like a cute local bookstore. I found a few coloring books and…read moregames I was interested in purchasing, even though I could have easily ordered them online but today I didn't mind spending a few extra dollars to support a small business. While shopping, I had to go to the bathroom but wanted to keep browsing so looked for a bathroom. I saw a couple of people (white people) come out of the restroom, even though the door said "Employees Only." I asked the woman at the register if there was a restroom available, and she told me, "No, our bathroom is not public but you can go to California Tortilla and use theirs." I returned to my fiancé, who was waiting near the bathroom, and overheard another employee tell a different customer, "We don't normally let people use the bathroom because there are boxes in there, but we can make an exception (white customers) I mentioned that I had just been told the restroom was not public, and the employee responded, "Yeah, but we can make an exception for her, not you," in what felt like a very dismissive and condescending tone. The interaction left me feeling uncomfortable and unwelcome. Consistency and respectful communication with customers of all skin tones is important, and unfortunately that was not my experience here. Definitely recommend buying on stores like Amazon and not supporting this behavior.

O my gosh, I could spend hours and hours here and have no regrets immersing myself in browsing and…read moremarveling at what they may have. Used bookstores so amazing---the discovery is the best part! Libraries, in contrast, know what they have, usually, through a record system, but used bookstores, nope! Who knows what will come in today and what will not be there tomorrow. This is such a wonderful bookstore, with most books (except rare ones) priced at $2 plus games, newspapers, magazines, and this-and-that items, a huge improvement to the cramped, crowded, dimly lit downstairs bookstore what it used to be 10+ years ago. Customer service was excellent as well. The staff member was friendly, competent, efficient, and sociable. I can't wait to go back. Where are my fellow book lovers in Montgomery County?

This is one of those hidden gems that I am not sure I want to tell about versus keeping it to…read moremyself. This store is one of the best places to go to buy used children's books that I have ever been to. You can get nice old hardbacks all day long for just fifty cents each. I loaded up for Christmas stockings for next to nothing and passed on a love of literacy while keeping a choice few for myself. You have to dig a little but you will be so pleased with the results!

This is such a great place to peruse and find books that support your community! I loved the amount…read moreof queer and Black books at Loyalty and felt welcomed by book covers that represent me. Along with books, they have punny stickers and goods like unique wrapping paper. I am extremely excited to come back and spend all of my money lol.

Cute little bookstore with a wide variety of books for such a small space! There were many…read moredifferent genres of books and the person working there was helpful with helping us find certain series and books. If you're looking for a friendly bookstore in Petworth, this is the place to go!

Pen & Prose is a beautiful stationary, gift shop and home decor store located within Reagan…read moreAirport. There is a huge selection of items for anyone in here! If you are in need of a nice gift or souvenir for a loved one on your way back home, this is certainly the place to buy it. I just loved shopping here! So many amazing finds! I highly recommend this store!

Who'd have thought that DCA would hold one of my favorite stationery stores? It's strange but true!…read moreI often stop in here before or after a flight to grab a pack of Crane note cards or a birthday card for someone. They also have a pretty robust selection of gift books, Moleskins, pens, and other fun items. Definitely worth a detour on the way to your gate!

Located in Silver Spring nestled in a cute home-turned-cafe! I lovvveee an Indy bookstore so this…read morewas a gem finding. Diego was super helpful and allowed me to take my time. He offered me coffee and gave me the history of the bookstore. He even took his time to grind me a bag of coffee!!! Not to mention Chardai personally reached out to me on status of book swag that I was looking for! That follow up and follow through really matters! Amazing staff! The book selection is phenomenal and even had the new Kennedy Ryan release available! The books are categorized by genre which makes it easy for shopping. They have vinyls for sale In the front of the store and in their back area. In the back is this super cute grandmas basement type setup with vintage couch seating, walls of crates of vinyls, a DJ booth AND a vinyl listening station that allows you to sample the vinyls. How cool is that?! They also have cute trinkets available such as stickers, greeting cards and pins. They even have one-of-a-kind coffee table books! And the coffee?!? WOW! A cup of coffee and your favorite book for less than $20?! Absolutely! And as you're walking out, check out the flyer at the back of the door as they have authors and other events posted! Outside has a small seating area and a clearance book section to check out. So go grab a book, a cup of coffee and enjoy a beautiful Maryland day at one their outside tables ( once it's warm lol) I can't wait to go back! Such a great bookstore!

I discovered Loyalty through bookstagram and the top lists for bookstores in the nation's capital…read more While this isn't the flagship store, it was certainly an experience! It's easy to visit a bookstore and find all the feature books to be by the same people: James Patterson, Colleen Hoover, and Taylor Jenkins Reid. That's great, but what about other authors and genres?? I saw not one of the previously mentioned books (and I loved it), but instead authors and titles I'd never heard of. I ended up purchasing two titles I knew nothing about. They say never judge books by the cover? Why not? If they're beautiful, then buy them. That's what I did, and I loved both books! The selection was incredible, and certain books had blurbs written by the staff to help with your decision-making. This store has so much to offer for a variety of audiences. Give it a try next time you're in Silver Spring.