Announcing our Official Bookstore Partner: East City Bookshop!

by | Jun 17, 2024 | Blogs

Meet our official bookstore partner: Laurie Gillman, Owner of East City Bookshop in Washington, DC!

Books are at the core of the BOOKED Trips experience. Each of our book-inspired journey begins with a story – a story of a people, a place, its culture. BOOKED Trips curates immersive, book-inspired journeys that transports you from the pages of your favorite novels to the real-world locations where they unfold. We curate small group journeys that connect women through shared literary passions, meaningful conversations, and exploration.

We believe story and travel have the power to transform lives, particularly for the women we serve as customers and those we partner with as guides and vendors. Through exploration and connection, we provide a safe space for women, especially women of color, to step outside their comfort zones, challenge themselves, and discover their inner strength. We combat loneliness and isolation by fostering meaningful connections. Our journeys create a supportive network of women who share a passion for travel and literature, fostering friendships and a sense of belonging.

All of that starts with a book. Selecting an official partner who will source all of the books for our 2024 and 2025 BOOKED Trips experiences has been a thrill. We chose East City Bookshop in Washington, DC because it is a woman-owned bookstore with a longstanding footprint in the community. They are are a bookstore where I, Jalisa, the Founder of BOOKED Trips have a personal relationship. For years I’ve participated in their Well Read Black Girl book club and met friends and BOOKED Trips travelers.

I got the chance to chat with Laurie Gillman, the owner of East City Bookshop about her work and am thrilled about this partnership. Read our conversation below.

Tell us a little bit about yourself. What sparked your love of books and the bookselling world? What is inspiring you right now?

I’ve always been a reader, but before planning to open East City Bookshop I’d never even worked in a bookstore!  I decided to open the shop because, at the time, there were no general bookstores selling new books in my neighborhood–in fact none in SE, NE, or SW DC.  Our neighborhood bookstore had closed in 2009, and I thought someone would step up and open one, but years went by and no one did it.  I’ve lived on Capitol Hill for 30 years, raised my kids here, and I knew my neighborhood needed a bookstore!  So I learned everything I could about how to open a bookstore and just did it.  We opened in April 2016.

Imagine you have a weekend in DC dedicated to all things literary. Where would you send folks for a truly immersive bookish experience?

Well, I’d suggest they start at East City Bookshop, of course.  While in the neighborhood, they should go to Capitol Hill Books, a used bookstore that’s a neighborhood institution.  Next, they should see the Great Hall and the main reading room at the Library of Congress–it’s gorgeous. A few blocks away is the Folger Shakespeare Library, a renowned research facility, museum and theater. Downtown, go visit the newly renovated MLK Library, the main branch of the DC Public Library. Not too far from there, visit Planet Word Museum, which has really creative, interactive exhibits on language–it’s really fun for both kids and adults. With any time left after that, there are many more indie bookstores to visit in the DMV.

Is there a specific food or dish that instantly transports you to a place you’ve traveled? If so, where and why?

I have some really intense food/travel memories that are mostly fairly basic (but delicious) foods in a particular place, but the company and setting made them some of my most memorable, delicious meals:  Cooking Beouf Bourguignon with the owner of the apartment where my family and I were staying in Paris, along with her chef friend, him teaching the kids (who were young then) how to flip crepes in the pan, and enjoying our meal together–completely delightful!  Staying on a little farm in the Emilia-Romagna region in Italy, and eating the most delicious pasta at the one restaurant in the nearby tiny town–with olive oil from the farm we stayed at, and local Sangiovese wine.  Attending a friend’s wedding in Cuernavaca, Mexico, with one of the most delicious dinners I’ve ever eaten (decades ago–my most vivid memory is of stuffed squash blossoms and cactus, but there were many courses), and then after dancing and drinking all night they brought out the Chilaquiles at about 3 or 4 am. Familiar, because I grew up in Texas, but never as delicious as that morning.

Can you recommend 1-2 books that capture the essence of a place you’ve visited or dream of visiting? 

A book I read recently that sparked my urge to visit a country, more than anything I’ve read in a long time, is House of Doors by Tan Twan Eng (2023, Bloomsbury). It’s a beautifully written novel that takes place in the Malay peninsula in the early 20th century.  His descriptions of the food, the scents, the towns of Penang, and Kuala Lumpur, are enthralling and so compelling, I’ve been thinking of it ever since reading the book.  I’ve now put those places on my travel wishlist. (hint hint!!)

Beyond visiting East City Bookshop, what are some ways people can support independent bookstores like yours?     

I’m sure lots of your followers already find the indie bookstores in whatever town they visit–for me, that’s always the best way to get a feel for a place.  And it can be a great way to organize your sightseeing–map out bookstores, see the sights near them, what could be better!  It’s also really helpful to order online from indie bookstores whenever possible.  Many have their own websites where you can order not just what’s on the shelves at that moment, but also from what’s in their warehouses, and they can ship it to you.  You can also order from your favorite indie through Bookshop.org.  Just go to the website, look for the bookstore you want, and place your order–simple!  The bookstore you choose gets a portion of the sale.  And one of our favorite ways to experience books is by listening, through Libro.fm.  Libro.fm is a great company that provides audiobooks through indie bookstores.  Go to the libro.fm website and search for your bookstore, and sign up through that link. Much better than Audible (Which is owned by Amazon).  While you’re at it, encourage your friends and family to support small businesses and their communities by shopping small and shopping local, whether in-person, online, or through a third-party indie provider.  We wouldn’t exist if our customers didn’t support us so we can continue to offer book clubs, author events, school donations, and really smart, informed booksellers!  They appreciate that, and they show their appreciation by shopping with us, telling friends, coming to events, bringing in new customers.  We love them! (for anyone who wants to know more about how and why to support bookstores, take a look at books by Danny Caine, such as How to Protect  Bookstores and Why).

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East City Bookshop was our book partner for our BOOKED Trips Accra, Ghana experience and was featured in our Accra, Ghana trip BOOKED box. Stay tuned for our upcoming trips by subscribing to our newsletter. 

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