Eben Weiss, the author of the popular cycling blog, Bike Snob NYC, visits D.C. for a book signing and group ride on Wednesday. We talked to him about the new book and city bike policies. more ›

Looking for a copy of Andrew Sullivan's "The Cannabis Closet"? You're not going to find it at Adams Morgan's Capitol Hemp, which stopped selling books on drugs and the drug war over fears that they could be used to justify another police raid. more ›

When the D.C. Library announced a two-month-long amnesty on fines for overdue books, the idea was to encourage patrons to return materials that they had long-ago checked out but never returned. The program, which ended earlier this month, was a more rousing success than anyone could have predicted. more ›

More from the Rankings Department: we're a very literate and pretty generous city. more ›

Hey, if the Office of Tax and Revenue and the Department of Motor Vehicles can do it, why can't the D.C. Public Library? The city's bookmasters announced this morning that -- beginning December 5 and through February 5 -- they'll be launching their own amnesty program, forgiving fines on overdue, lost or damaged books, CDs, DVDs, and other materials. more ›

Washingtoniana is the largest special collection at the D.C. Public Libriary, flush with old photographs, local maps, rare books, millions of newspaper clippings and the D.C. community archives. This weekend, the history collection is having its first book sale in the division's 107 year history. more ›

Though it is excellent, Dream City isn't the only book about the District of Columbia you should read. Here's a few others we'd suggest. more ›

The photos above are just a glimpse at what happened inside the University of Maryland's McKeldin Library during Tuesday's earthquake -- tens of thousands of books spilled out from their shelves and onto the floor, spawning a huge clean-up effort. more ›

The Wall Street Journal has news which will certainly come as no surprise -- Borders bookstore has failed in their attempts to find a buyer and will liquidate all of its stores nationwide. more ›

The ever popular National Book Festival, sponsored by the Library of Congress and now in its eleventh year, has plans to expand to two days this year. On Saturday and Sunday, September 24-25, the festival will be on the National Mall with author talks, book signings, kids activities, and – given that this year's theme is "celebrating the joys of reading aloud" – lots and lots of readings. more ›

While 2010 seemed to be the year that you could hardly set foot on the Metro without bumping into someone entranced by their Kindle, the one big knock on Amazon's popular e-reader was that it did not support any kind of e-book lending program, while the Nook and Sony's e-reader did. That should change later this year. Amazon has announced that it has partnered with Overdrive to launch Kindle Library Lending at 11,000 libraries nationwide, including in the District. more ›

Politics and Prose, the much-loved D.C. bookstore which has continued to prosper while other area bookstores cleared out their shelves, will soon have new owners. According to the Washington Post, former Post reporters Bradley Graham and his wife Lissa Muscatine will purchase the store, which has been on sale since last June. more ›

National book chain Borders declared bankruptcy today, and will close about 200 of its branches across the country. The Wall Street Journal has the complete list of Borders which will be closing, including two in the District of Columbia (1801 K Street NW and 5333 Wisconsin Avenue NW) and outlets in Kensington, Largo, Bowie and Woodbridge. Stores at Pentagon City, Baileys Crossroads, Silver Spring and Vienna will remain open. more ›

Washington is one of the world's most photographed and photogenic cities, and the subject of many photo books: from glossy souvenirs that never stray far from postcard views, to more local-minded work by the likes of Carol Highsmith, who documented the decay and restoration of the Willard Hotel, and the late Fred Maroon. Soon to join the latter ranks will be our DCist Exposed magazine -- but while you eagerly await that, a new book by local photographer John Gossage, the subject of a recent show at the Smithsonian Museum of American Art, as well as a DCist interview, will more than whet your apetite for the city beyond the postcard. more ›

Some sad news to pass along this afternoon -- John Olsson, the founder of now-defunct beloved local chain Olsson's Books & Records, reportedly died last Thursday. more ›

DCist favorites Barrelhouse turned five this year. That’s quite a feat, especially when you consider America's general disinterest in reading. Barrelhouse's ongoing success is keeping them busy -- in the last three months alone they’ve received close to 900 submissions of fiction, non-fiction and poetry, all of which needs to be read by an editor before ever reaching print. To their extensive to-do list, they’ve added monthly readings at Wonderland (called "Barrelhouse Presents") featuring writers from other indie lit organizations, like Chicago’s Artifice (last Thursday night) or the small press Dzanc Books (back in July). The idea is to introduce D.C. to the thriving national indie lit scene, and, in the process, lend support to their favorite writers and groups. If you’re interested in catching the next reading you can head over to the Black Squirrel tomorrow night for the Reading to Destroy Language! More events are scheduled for February, so stay tuned to their blog for details. In the meantime, we caught up with the editors of Barrelhouse -- there are six of them -- to discuss D.C., the evolution of Barrelhouse, and what it's like to run a lit journal. more ›

Carla Cohen, who founded and was a co-owner of Politics and Prose bookstore, has died. She was 74. Cohen succumbed to a rare cancer of the bile ducts. Cohen reportedly died around 8 a.m. this morning. more ›

Former President Jimmy Carter was scheduled to appear in Washington, D.C. today to discuss his new book White House Diary, which includes selections from over 5,000 pages of personal notes he took while in office on everything from the Iran hostage crisis to creating the Department of Energy. Carter fell ill on Tuesday in Cleveland and was rushed to the hospital with stomach issues. He appears to be back to "normal," in a statement issued by the Carter Center this morning, but has canceled his D.C. appearances today, including the 12:30 p.m. book signing at Politics and Prose and the 7 p.m. discussion at the Lisner Auditorium. Neither have been rescheduled. more ›

On the heels of Zero History's release earlier this month, D.C. gets a visit from famed cyberpunk author William Gibson this Sunday, the very last stop on his U.S. book tour. Gibson's latest novel is the third in a loosely-bound set dubbed the Bigend trilogy, Gibson's first foray into stories set in present time, where his characters live the with explosion of technology in the 21st century and explore its intended and not-so-intended uses. (The Guardian grandly noted, "There's no question that, taken together, these three books represent one of the first great novels of 21st-century data culture.") Gibson took a few minutes to talk with DCist about his new book, writing about imaginary futures and Twitter. more ›

Let's face it, this hasn't been the best summer for D.C.'s loyal Metro riders. Whether it's the construction, the fare hikes or the roving melees, it feels like WMATA should be paying you, instead of vice versa. But, hey, how about those shiny new Kindles that Amazon just released? Yes, for the Girl Who Played With Fire crowd out there, the announcement of two cheaper models of the Kindle couldn't have come at a better time than the proverbial dog days of August. more ›

Written by DCist Contributor Allen Brooks more ›

Washington, D.C's premier (only?) Irish arts organization, Solas Nua, is once again handing out free copies of books by contemporary Irish authors all day today, in celebration of St. Patrick's Day. They say they plan to hand out a total of 10,000 books, totally gratis. more ›

After almost four years, New York Times online columnist Judith Warner retired Domestic Disturbances, a blog inviting readers to weigh in on, among other things, the complexities and challenges of motherhood. Whereas her last book, 2005's hotly debated Perfect Madness: A Motherhood in the Age of Anxiety, focused on the structural and societal barriers in achieving the maternal ideal, her new book, We’ve Got Issues: Children and Parents in the Age of Medication, examines the numerous biological realities and pervasive myths surrounding childhood psychiatric disorders. more ›

Right now, your average Capitals fans is as happy as a lobbyist with a wad of cash to spend. Their team is riding the best winning streak in franchise history. Alex Ovechkin is crashing every NHL goalie's party and leading the league in goals, points, and plus-minus, with his teammates cracking the top five in two of those categories. more ›

The cartoon is as painful as it is poignant. Santa Claus stands above the U.S. Capitol, holding a large bag of gifts in one hand and a piece of paper bearing the word "Vote" in the other. The caption read, "It's in the bag!" The cartoon appeared on a flier distributed by the District of Columbia Suffrage Committee in 1947, as District residents advocated for a plan in Congress that would grant them just the smallest amount of local control over their own affairs. And just like we have been many a times, they were let down that Christmas. more ›

In the off chance you aren't friends with Sarah Palin on Facebook, let it be noted that the former Alaska governor/VP candidate/attention starved loon/media juggernaut announced last night that she will indeed be making a stop in the D.C. area on her book tour. This may come as a shock, but it turns out she's not planning on promoting Going Rogue at Politics & Prose. In fact, she won't be at a bookstore at all. Instead, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Dec. 5, she'll be out at the BJ's at 13053 Fair Lakes Shopping Center in Fairfax, presumably so she can rub elbows with the "real Americans" who buy in bulk. Mark your calendars! more ›

The South Asian Literary and Theater Arts Festival (SALTAF) brings together writers, filmmakers, and dramatists from across the South Asian diaspora for a day of screenings, panel discussions, and book signings. Previous participants of the festival, which takes place on Saturday, include directors Mira Nair (Mississippi Masala, Monsoon Wedding) and Deepa Mehta (Earth, Fire, Water), and writer Kiran Desai (Inheritance of Loss). The D.C. chapter of the Network of South Asian Professionals and the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program are the chief sponsors of the annual event, which is an opportunity for both emerging and established artists to present their work, and engage in a dialogue with those interested in South Asian culture. more ›

Put "sex" and "drugs" in your title and you're sure to catch the attention of the young people. Say "gefilte fish" and you're adding a touch of Jewish kitsch. Sex, Drugs, and Gefilte Fish: The Heeb Storytelling Collection, a reading taking place tonight at Chief Ike’s, sits at the "edgy end" of the DCJCC’s 2009 Jewish Literary Festival. Heeb is a humor magazine targeted to the young and Jewish, and this reading aims to bring together the editor and three contributors to the story collection to "present an evening of funny, reflective, angst-ridden, angry and outrageous stories." more ›

DCist's guide to lectures and discussions in the D.C. area more ›