Perfectly cluttered in every way.

For the second year in a row, the reader’s of 5280 Magazine have voted Capitol Hill Books as the best used bookstore in Denver. We’re proud to continue receiving awards after 30 years at our wonderful location, which as 5280 noted is “situated between a gritty stretch of Colfax and the more polished veneer of downtown.”

We’re just happy to have customers that appreciate our “Perfectly cluttered bookshelves,” and keep returning to our store even when new technologies present entirely different reading options than we can offer.

So again thank you 5280 Magazine, its readers and to our customers who continue to value books and our bookstore throughout our 30 years in business.

The Google photo technology in use.

Google is now expanding their street views to include interior photography of the businesses seen along the way. We’re happy that Google has chosen Capitol Hill Books as one of the first businesses in Denver to be photographed for this new project. Today, the Google photographer came into the store to take a look around and use her state-of-the-art 360 degree camera to show what it is like walking through our store (She was a quite nice person as well and the Google people were really great and communicative about the project to us.).

Eventually, Google will link the photographs to the street views of our store. So when you see our store on Google Street View, you’ll be able to click to see pictures of our store from the inside as well. We’re very excited about this project and we’ll be sure to update you about when the photography and content will be available online.

Soon: Capitol Hill Books inside and out.

So on the one year anniversary of our new, improved Capitolhillbooks.com (additional props to former employee, Tom for originally putting this site together), we just want to thank our customers for continuing to use the website. We continue to improve because of them.

Look stylish and thrifty with your own Capitol Hill Books' bag

Just a few weeks ago we introduced a new product at Capitol Hill Books, a book bag made from recycled plastic that is perfect for almost any errand.

Now there is another incentive to buy these awesome bags: They’ll save you money! Starting now, anybody who purchases books in the store with our red book bags will get an automatic 10 percent discount good on any used books in the store.

Before we get too generous, we should say that our customers can only use one discount at a time, so those with frequent shopper cards cannot combine discounts. And of course the discount is only good for those who purchase books instead of use trade credit, but other than that, there are no more catches or caveats. Buy one of our red book bags for $3.95 and get 10 percent off your used book purchases every time you bring it to Capitol Hill Books. It’s our way of rewarding customers for reducing their use of plastic bags and helping spread the word of Capitol Hill Books across the land.

The entrance to our wonderful store at the corner of Colfax Avenue and Grant Street.

In Denver for the Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) conference this week? Need something else to occupy your time in between the conference presentations? Want to get a real sense of Denver literary history?

Then come to Capitol Hill Books, located at Grant and Colfax and only a short walk from the conference at the Colorado Convention Center. Clicking here will show you exactly where we are located.

Capitol Hill Books is a literary institution in Denver, located at the same Colfax corner for more than 30 years. We love writers and readers of all types and enjoy finding the perfect book for our customers. We have Denver’s largest database of used books right on this Web site, so you can see what we carry before you make the trek over here.

Best of all, all AWP conference attendees get a 10 percent discount for any purchase at the store. Just provide some type of identification from the conference before we ring up your purchase. We look forward to seeing you soon.

Death relaxes on his holiday

Capitol Hill Books just got a great new product for all you book lovers out there: an inexpensive book bag made of recycled plastic.

We worked with the good folks at Discountmugs.com to create our one-of-a-kind bags that will make you the envy of every book club. Capitol Hill Book’s owner Holly designed the Edward Gorey inspired graphic after the staff came up with the awesome slogan “Better Read than Dead.”

Holly models our bag in action.

As shown on our bag, Death takes a holiday to catch up with some of his favorite books at the local cemetery with his buddy, the Raven from Edgar Allen Poe’s macabre poem keeping watch.

Our bags are a bit bigger than many standard totes: At 12″ high by 16″ wide and 5.5″ deep, it can hold quite a few books and plenty of groceries, gym clothes or whatever else you need to carry. The bags also have long, 28″ straps, making them easy to carry around your shoulders. And the vibrant red coloring means you’ll probably never have a problem trying to find your bag when you need it.

Go green and show your appreciation of one of Denver’s most endearing and unique independent businesses with these one-of-a-kind bags. We promise that they’ll be a great collector’s item from cradle to grave.

Our newly expanded sociology and LGBTQ sections.

Our health books have long been crammed into the corner of our third room, brimming with titles about everything from allergies to yoga. We decided it was about time to make some more room for books that we know are very popular with our customers.

To do this we moved our sociology books to the third room right across from psychology. That way people who are interested in both people and groups of people could find everything they need in one area. Our LGBT section was moved just a bit to the north on some brand new shelves.

The fruit of your health is in our new holistic section.

And  the rest of our health books have taken over the space where holistic health once belonged. This allows the once tight sections to expand and be more distinct. The books in this section include: General Health, Women’s Health, Arthritis, Allergies, Pain (back, knee, fibromyalgia, etc.), Diabetes/Sleep, Longevity, Diet, AIDS, Cancer, Heart Disease, and Health Reference books.

We’re also in the process of making some other minor adjustments. Small paperback mysteries have a new bookcase and fiction is being expanded to some additional shelves at the end of its section so that we no longer have any books on the almost out-of-reach top shelves.

All of this is simply an effort to make it easier for our customers  to access books of interest. But we really try to listen to our customers, so please let us know your opinions of our recent rearranging, and of course feel free to ask us questions if you find that your favorite section is not where it used to be.

Will hardship break your family or bring it together?

Haruf’s book about the McPheron brothers and their adopted daughter Victoria of fictional Holt, Colorado is a simple yet affecting story about the struggles of tradition in the face of modern turbulence. You can find a bit more information about the play here.

Capitol Hill Books is teaming up with the DCTC to offer special discounted tickets to see the play adaptation, which runs from January 29 to February 27 at the Stage Theater in the Denver Center for Performing Arts complex. Our tickets are just $19 when you use a special promotion code only available if you come into the store and pick up a discount card. There are a few limitations, but this deal can’t be beat when you consider tickets are normally $34 and up.

So come on into the store and grab a discount card and then see a truly Colorado story brought to the stage.

RAWR! KING OF MONSTERS WISH YOU MANY TIME OF SUCCESS! HAVE COPY OF "WHERE WILD THINGS ARE?"

First we had Japanese monster sensation Godzilla drop by the store to roar his appreciation for great used books at affordable prices. He even had the courtesy to hold his fire breath until he was outside.

"It gives me great hope that you have the audacity to carry a large selection of books with an affordability that all Americans can appreciate."

Even though we get an occasional celebrity at Capitol Hill Books, we get a bigger thrill from simply seeing our customers here day in and day out. We have them to thank for the 30-year success of Capitol Hill Books and hopefully its continued success for the next 30 years.

January 1, 2010 is our exact 30th year in business. We will have a few cookies and warm stories to share if you would like to come in on that day. And of course you are welcome to come by after then too. We plan on staying here awhile.

Your "Glad Recipient" will think you're a "Thoughtful Gift Giver" with one of these versatile gift certificates.

There are dozens of people in our lives that appreciate a warm holiday gift even if we don’t know exactly what it should be or at precisely what temperature. And it’s especially hard to figure out when you wait until the last minute to get your presents. That’s why Capitol Hill Books offers gift certificates. Our gift certificates are available in any denomination you’d like and are good for anything in the store. Plus, they are written out in hand calligraphy for that extra decorative touch.

And since we have books on almost every subject, you can be sure that a Capitol Hill Books gift certificate would be appreciated by everyone from your uncle Larry to your aunt Louise.

Our stuffing contains no carrots or breadcrumbs .

Stuffing is not just for turkey anymore. You also have to stuff the stockings of tour friends and family members with small, inexpensive but interesting items like the ones you can find at Capitol Hill Books. We understand that it’s hard to fit a book like the “Collins’ Atlas of Archeology” in a small cotton sock, but a quippish magnet, some awesome notepads or a tin of Obama mints can easily fit in almost any type of foot covering.

A cool gift is in the cards if you play them right and put them all out on the table

Sometimes your own words are the best way to express your appreciation for a loved one. We have both blank cards and cards with messages in them to intrigue and inspire. All of them come with envelopes and have interesting designs that are a lot different than the typical cards found at drug stores.

Be a thoughtful gift giver by making someone a glad recipient of a Capitol Hill Books' gift certificate.

So forget the long-lines at the mall and come to Capitol Hill Books for all your holiday shopping. Not only do we have books for almost every interest, but we also have those small items perfect for the office gift exchange or filling up your favorite argyle.