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18.02.11

First-time visitors are often surprised and a little overwhelmed by Capitol Hill Books. Most of the shelves in the rambling two-story shop are stacked two-deep, as if to reward those who spend time searching. Waist-high stacks of books sit precariously next to aisles, and it's not unusual to hear a clatter as a pile topples to the ground. (Seriously, this, and not the threat of thievery, is why you're asked to leave large bags at the front door.) And yet the staff somehow seems to know where everything is. Here's a quick primer: Washington's best collection of mystery and detective fiction is upstairs in the front room. Vintage cookbooks, wine guides and large photography books are in the way back of the first floor, past the history and politics sections and a bathroom full of foreign-language books. (Told you, no space goes unused.) Fiction is upstairs, and the deep selection of books about the Washington area is along the east wall. (Fun fact: The shop originally only took up the first floor. Owner William Kerr, a Jesuit priest and Washington Post employee, lived in an apartment upstairs. After Kerr died in 1994, in what is now the Mystery Room, the new owners expanded the business.) Capitol Hill Books can be a zoo on Saturdays, but you shouldn't miss the free wine-and-cheese tasting, which happens on the second Saturday of the month from 4 to 7 p.m. I prefer to stop in on lazy Sunday afternoons, when I can take my time and linger while searching for Margery Allingham detective stories or browsing for old guides to Washington's forgotten buildings and be thankful that my favorite bookstore is here for another day. --Fritz Hahn

Source: Washington Post