It was the second weekend in December 2024 and I was about to go on my first official Indie bookshop tour in Washington, D.C.. After dinner, my husband asked for our tour schedule the next day and when I didn't mention Kramers, he stared at me wide-eyed. “You’re touring Indie bookshops in D.C. and NOT going to Kramers?” he asked in disbelief. I had never spent more than two days in D.C. and was entirely unaware of this institution. But that was about to change. The next morning, we left an hour early, found parking near Dupont Circle and stepped into the iconic four walls of Kramers, a bookshop that has been around since 1976. With only two weeks to go until Christmas, I decided not to get in the way of Saturday mornings business and followed up with Llalan Fowler via email afterwards (thanks Llalan for responding to this complete stranger!). “We've been around since July 4, 1976 (the Bicentennial!), and have weathered many storms. We're so proud to be thought of as an integral piece of DC's landscape, and hope to be around for at least another 48 years.” Llalan Fowler Llalan explained “I've worked in bookstores for over 20 years, and always knew of Kramers as an example of what a great bookshop should be. After the worst of the pandemic, when my bookstore in Ohio closed, I jumped at the chance to work at this iconic store. I've been here for three and a half years now, doing my best to live up to the history and keep this institution rolling. I worked up from floor manager to my current position of head book buyer.” Browsing the shelves at Kramers that cover a wide spectrum from Highlights on Small Presses to your typical bestsellers, is accompanied by the clatter of plates and coffee mugs. Kramers includes a deli-style counter in the main space and is home to Afterwords Cafe that you access in the next room. What makes Kramers fun to browse are well organized tables and even window sills stacked high with popular titles. That’s exactly where I found The Full Moon Coffee Shop, nestled between R.F. Kuang’s Yellowface and Matt Haig’s The Life Impossible. Sitting in stacks right next to a floor-to-ceiling window that faced the sidewalk, I spotted an intriguing cover that would have gotten lost among the hundreds of spines on the shelf. Llalan explains, “We're a general interest bookshop but located in the heart of Washington, DC, so: politics. We value voices that aren't necessarily read widely across the country. We try to have lots of "discoverable" titles and authors for our customers to find and fall in love with, be that a small press, a book in translation, or just an upcoming author.” I love hearing, "I thought I was going to have to go to Amazon!" Llalan Fowler Llalan strikes me as the kind of bookseller who is in it for the right reasons. When I asked about her favorite experience at the shop, she explained, “I love surprising a customer by having exactly what they were looking for that they thought they had no chance of ever finding. I love hearing, "I thought I was going to have to go to Amazon!"” I’m curious about Llalan’s take on the Washington D.C. readership. “Washington, DC is a great reading city--very literate.”, she says, “People buy great stuff here for themselves and others, so one of my favorite things is chatting up customers who are purchasing an interesting combination of books: Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Thomas Piketty. Or Beach Read and Joan Didion. The Communist Manifesto and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I love this town for its love of reading and for sharing that love.” Llalan’s book recommendations
What I bought at KramersThe Full Moon Coffeeshop, Mai Mochizuki
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