When you hit up a travel spot, is a bookstore one of the first places you visit? And does it tell you a lot about the city or town you’re in? We think so!

Bookstores are uniquely suited to represent the character of a destination in their design, staff and most importantly, book selection. The experience of a bookstore, and by extension a vacation, can live on the pages of a mystery set in a sleepy little seaside town or even a far-off adventure read on its beaches.

So break out your sunblock, travel maps and bookmarks! We are going on a trip. All summer we’ll be blogging about some bookstores in vacation destinations. Just call us the Bookstore Tourists!

Washington, DC is a must-see travel destination for any family! History and current events come to life within it’s borders so it is fitting that we are visiting Politics & Prose. For over 25 years, they’ve offered the DC community a great selection of books!

I was luck enough to correspond with Mary Alice Garber, Buyer and Heidi Powell, Manager for the Children’s Department. They tell me “Politics & Prose is rooted in community and nationally recognized for its selection of frontlist and backlist  titles for adults, teens, and children.” On the main navbar of their website, I found an interesting feature that showed me just how much that was true. They have a full tab devoted to ‘Our Neighbors,’ which is not only a great resource for a hungry bookworm but also provides space for Community Exchange, Literary Organizations and Local Schools.

Mary Alice and Heidi also tell me that “the store is also known for the quality and quantity of its events.” A look at their Flickr stream has some really fun pictures from their Wimpy Kid event and many, many others! (And as you’d expect from a store named Politics and Prose, you’ll find some visits from those on the political side as well…)

They gave me a list of favorites that included classic like Good Night Gorilla and Caps for Sale mixed with newer titles like The Graveyard Book and one of my favorites released this summer, Capture the Flag. (which is set in DC!) They also sent me a great resource for their customers with their favorites from this season. It’s such an easy way to introduce their customers to new books. They take their suggestions seriously and tell me “Staff must have read the books they are selling because parents, children, and teachers look to us for suggestions and trust our opinions.”

In a town, known for it’s strong opinions, I’d take Mary Alice and Heidi’s any day!