25th Anniversary Party

Our 25th Anniversary Celebration began in September and continues through its final events in the first week of December. This past Sunday we threw our "Thank You, Friends" Party in the parking lot behind Politics & Prose. The party featured food, music, children’s games, and a raffle with prizes donated by a number of publishers. Our neighborhood restaurants sold food and beverages and contributed to the festive air of the day. The raffle raised $600 for the Washington Literacy Council. We have to say that the major contribution was made by the fabulous weather.

We want to thank all of our staff and our neighbors for helping to make that party memorable: Special thanks to:

General Manager Tracey Filar Atwood, for pulling the event together;

Thad Ellerbee, Politics & Prose Plant Manager, and Chris McGuire, his indefatigable helper, for organizing the physical space - the parking lot, tables, and chairs;

Mike Giarratano, Events Coordinator, who has been the indispensable man for the 25th anniversary events;

Javier Rivas, the manager of the Modern Times Coffeehouse, for his partnership with us that day and every day;

James Alefantis, owner of Buck's Fishing & Camping  and Comet Ping Pong, for all that he did - lending us tablecloths, bringing out the ping pong tables; providing special food for sale at the picnic;

Besta Pizza and Marvelous Market, for being part of the whole event.

A very special thanks to Royce Flowers and Royce Cohen, its owner. She donated masses of flowers for the tables and a gorgeous bouquet for the front of the store. Royce Flowers delivers (from Virginia) to D.C. every day.

We are grateful to our beloved publisher representatives for contributing prizes for the raffle: Gerry Kallman from Oxford University Press, Joe Johnson from Penguin Hardbacks, Trudy Kallman from Penguin Paperbacks, Sherry Virtz from Random House, and the publishers themselves, including The Brookings Institution Press, University of Pennsylvania Press, and Simon and Schuster;

and to Liz Liptak from the Washington Literacy Council - the recipient of the monetary donations from the raffle, since she also contributed her time and energy during the picnic.

Thanks to all of you who contributed food and desserts. We understand that they were yummy and wish we could have sampled them before they were eaten by happy guests. It was so good of you to make and bring food.

Finally, we want to thank all of the staff that helped inside and outside during the picnic . . . and who help every day to make the bookstore fun to visit.

To view all our images from the party, click here.

Anecdote à propos to the above

A friend told us that he called a few days before to order Edward Kennedy’s memoir, True Compass. He asked the staffer who answered the phone why he should buy the book from us rather than Amazon where he can get it much cheaper. Our staffer - Conor Moran, we think - said we provide an opportunity for people to listen to authors, gather in a community setting, and look at books they will really want to buy. Moreover, we contribute to local schools and nonprofits (e.g. Washington Literacy Council) and pay local taxes to support the local economy.

Our friend said he thought it was a very good answer. He bought the book AND attended the picnic!

A BOOK LIST FOR THE 25th
Here is a list of 25 novels and 25 non-fiction books that we have loved over the years, all discounted by 20% to members until November 1. Please note that these are not necessarily the “best” books (although they are all very good ones). This is primarily a list of books that are too often overlooked as new books are published. Know also that we could have made each list twice as long and that some of the books that we wanted to include are not in publication at this time. Click here to peruse our selections online or stop in the store to browse our display by the front door!  For the list of beloved books from the Children's Department, click here