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Published on September 7, 2026
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Exploring DC’s independent bookshops: A Labor Day update

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An update on my visits to all 30 independent bookshops in the Washington, DC region, plus an appreciation for Bold Fork Books, which is closing September 30th.

Last January I set out on what one new friend described as an “exquisite venture” to explore all 30* independent bookshops in the DC region, write about each experience, and review a book purchased during my visit. And what a journey of discovery it has been! The range, scope and diversity of these shops is matched only by the enthusiasm, professionalism, and knowledge of the owners and staff who share their love of books and reading with others on a daily basis.

My goal was to fully complete this quest in 2026. Since Labor Day traditionally signals that we are three-quarters of the way through the year, I can report at this benchmark that I’ve finished one part but still have work to do before year’s end to mark this bucket list goal as fully complete.

  • Task one: Visit all 30 independent bookshops.
    • Check!
  • Task two: Read a book purchased from each shop and then write about my experience in that store and a review of the book on MORE TO COME.
    • We’re getting there!

Here’s an update for those following along, with a special thanks to the shop owners and staff who have assisted me in my visits and to the friends who have joined me to show off a favorite store or in exploring new places.

INDEPENDENT BOOKSHOPS VISITED AND REVIEWED

At this point in the year I have visited eighteen DC-area independent bookstores, written about the experience, and reviewed a book purchased from that bookseller. Each installment has information about the shop (with links) and my take on the book I purchased at that store.

  • Installment #5: WONDERLAND BOOKS, Bethesda
    • Review: Thomas Gilbert’s Death in the Strike Zone: The Mystery of America’s First Baseball Hero
  • Installment #8: BOL, Brookland
    • Review: Laila Lalami’s Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits
  • Installment #10: JF BOOKS, Dupont Circle
    • Review: Yiyun Li’s Things in Nature Merely Grow, the 2026 Pulitzer Prize winner for Memoir
  • Installment #15: KRAMERS, Dupont Circle
    • Review: Mary Oliver’s A Poetry Handbook: A Prose Guide to Understanding and Writing Poetry

INDEPENDENT BOOKSHOPS VISITED BUT NOT YET REVIEWED

There are twelve independent bookstores remaining to complete this journey. I’ve visited each of those twelve in 2026 and have purchased at least one book (and usually more). Reading those books and writing my reviews are among my primary tasks for the last four months of the year.

  • BARDS ALLEY, Vienna
    • The Fifth Year by Marlen Haushofer
  • BERGSTROM PRESS & BOOKS, Kensington
    • Karl Schlögel’s Ukraine: A Nation on the Borderland
  • KENSINGTON ROW BOOKSHOP, Kensington
    • Doris Kearns Goodwin’s An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s
  • LITTLE DISTRICT BOOKS, Barracks Road
    • Kaveh Akbar’s Martyr!
  • LOYALTY BOOKSTORE, Petworth
    • Flamboyants: The Queer Harlem Renaissance I Wish I’d Known by George M. Johnson or How We See It: The World Looks at America in the Age of Trump edited by The Dial
  • MAHOGANY BOOKS, National Harbor
    • Redeem a Nation: The Century-long Battle to Restore the Soul of America by Damario Solomon-Simmons
  • MIDDLE EAST BOOKS, Dupont Circle
    • Omar El Akkad’s One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This or Laila Lalami’s The Moor’s Account
  • OLD TOWN BOOKS, Alexandria
    • Joyce Chaplin’s The Franklin Stove: An Unintended American Revolution or They Stole a City: Wilmington’s White Supremacist Coup and the Families Who Live with Its Legacy by Lauren Collins
  • SANKOFA BOOKS, Howard University/Georgia Avenue
    • The Soul of Black Folk by W.E.B. Du Bois
  • SCRAWL BOOKS, Reston
    • Colin Asher’s The Midnight Special: The Secret Prison History of American Music
  • SECOND STORY BOOKS, Dupont Circle
    • Daniel James Brown’s The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics
  • SOLID STATE BOOKS, Shaw
    • Lives of the Saints by Nancy Lemann

AN APPRECIATION FOR BOLD FORK BOOKS

It may seem strange to mourn the loss of an independent bookstore as one would a person, but I’ve become very attached to these small shops throughout the DC region that buck major corporate trends to bring the community the passion, knowledge, interests, and loves of our neighbors. Thus I mourned when Candice and a friend both sent me notices saying that Mt. Pleasant’s Bold Fork Books was closing on September 30th.

The city’s only culinary bookshop, Bold Fork brought together those who loved food, books, creativity, and moxie. The staff, as shown in the picture above from the April Independent Bookstore Crawl, was friendly and knowledgeable. The selection was unique. We made a recent farewell visit two days after they announced the closing to pick up 12 back issues of Gourmet magazine that Candice was missing from the 1960s, 70s, and 80s . . . but that Bold Fork had in its collection.

The letter from owners Clementine Thomas & Sam Vasfi (pictured above) was both sad (because of the loss) and maddening (because of what this administration is doing to our city).

“We’re writing to you with some very difficult news. After almost six joyful years, Bold Fork Books will be closing on September 30th.

This has been a brutal year for our bookstore—from the immovable realities of narrow margins, fixed expenses, and the creep of online retailers to the hits DC has taken from the federal government’s actions. Business has slowed, costs have gone up, and there’s no indication these trendlines will change anytime soon. Like so many of our fellow small businesses, we’ve tried to come up with solutions, but the fundamentals have become insurmountable.

We can’t put into words how much this community means to us. Books we can’t stop talking about, conversations that spill out onto the sidewalk, authors and cooks and thinkers we admire, and the people who have walked through our doors have made this little shop so much bigger than we ever imagined it could be.

We want to make the most of our last month together, with plenty of opportunities to gather, connect, and celebrate. We’ll have more to share soon on this. At the end of the day, Bold Fork Books is a place: four walls, some shelves, and a whole lot of books. What made it special was always you – the people who supported us from near and far.

Thank you all for the journey of a lifetime.”

Thank you, Clementine and Sam, for taking a bold leap and bringing joy to DC-area book lovers and cooks for over six years. May you never stop dreaming.

WRAPPING UP

At year’s end I will:

  • post a final update with links to all 30 installments in the series, and
  • return to consider key lessons learned from each bookstore as part of this wonderful journey.

Thanks for joining me along the way, and keep reading!

More to come . . .

DJB

*For much of the year I settled on 29 as the number of independent bookshops in the immediate DC region. But after walking past it hundreds of times, it finally dawned on me that the small book/record shop literally across the street from my house—Mojomala: Books, Records & Cool Stuff—was not just a fly-by-night pop-up. Their inventory is as extensive, interesting, and intriguing as many of the other small shops in my list, and they’ve been around since December of 2023. So, I now have a nice round 30 bookshops to visit in 2026!

Photo of bookmarks by DJB

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I am David J. Brown (hence the DJB) and I originally created this personal newsletter more than fifteen years ago as a way to capture photos and memories from a family vacation. Afterwards I simply continued writing. Over the years the newsletter has changed to have a more definite focus aligned with my interest in places that matter, reading well, roots music, heritage travel, and more. My professional background is as a national nonprofit leader with a four-decade record of growing and strengthening organizations at local, state, and national levels. This work has been driven by my passion for connecting people in thriving, sustainable, and vibrant communities.

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