COME IN
Walk-In shopping: We are open for walk-in shopping, but are limiting capacity to seven customers. You may need to wait outside if we are at capacity or have an appointment inside the store. Appointments: If you would like to have the bookstore to yourself, make a 20-min appointment. Masks will be required inside the store (we have disposables if you need), and we ask that you maintain a 6-foot separation from other shoppers who are outside of your bubble.
ONLINE STORE
Nothing beats the experience of coming into our bookstore, but if you either don’t live in Sacramento or don’t want to come in, we make it easy to find everything we’re carrying in the shop — and 12 million books in print — in our online store. We offer curbside pickup, local delivery, and shipping nationwide.
CURBSIDE PICKUP
We offer no-contact curbside or quick in-store pickups. For no-contact pick-up, pull up in front of the Crest Theatre (off of the light rail tracks/yellow area) and call 916-492-6657. We’ll run your bag out to your car. Or come into the store to pick up your package. You do NOT need an appointment to pick up your order. We expect orders to be retrieved within a week of purchase or we will put them out for shipping or delivery, and you may incur an additional charge.
LOCAL DELIVERY
We offer free delivery if you are within a 4-mile radius of the store with purchase of $25 or more. There will be a $2 fee for Sacramento neighborhoods outside of 4 miles (fee waived for orders totaling more than $35). Expect limited delivery days to Carmichael, Rancho Cordova, Fair Oaks, and Elk Grove. No coded/gated large apartment complexes. If your porch is in a complicated-to-get-to area, please choose shipping or pickup instead. We are not a professional delivery service, and will not be able to get past gated apartments/townhomes.
NATIONWIDE SHIPPING
Orders over $30 and under 15 lbs ship for free throughout the U.S. We ship via USPS using Media Mail, which can take 10-14 days to arrive to its destination.
GIFT WRAPPING
Need a book wrapped for a gift? We offer beautiful gift-wrapping for $4.00 per bundle of books. Pair it with a notecard or one of our greeting cards to let someone know you’re thinking of them.
Reserve the bookstore for dinner and browsing.
Virtual author events are a wonderful way for many to see their favorite authors speak without the travel time and expense. We’re excited to add to our exciting lineup of authors who will be doing Zoom events with us. Details below.
The Bay Area Book Festival Monthly: WHAT WE’RE READING IN SEPTEMBER
Welcome to fall 2020: democracy at risk, a continuing pandemic, clashes in the streets, threatened food supplies, fires, a looming election, and skyrocketing anxiety as our cooped-up selves try to manage a cacophony of bad news. How to make sense of it all, and what...
The Bay Area Book Festival Monthly: WHAT WE’RE READING IN JULY
The month of July has been packed with a variety of literary experiences, created by the Bay Area Book Festival to cover your summer reading, further professional goals, inspire personal transformation, address current events, and of course offer plenty of great...
The Bay Area Book Festival Monthly: WHAT WE’RE READING IN JUNE
The Bay Area Book Festival was founded on principles of social justice. In light of current events, we are proud to claim solidarity with everyone speaking up and doing the work to dismantle a longstanding legacy of racial inequality. Actions may speak louder than...
The Bay Area Book Festival Monthly: WHAT WE’RE READING IN MAY
Perhaps you caught this recent illuminating KQED story about how California arts nonprofits and individual artists/writers have sprung into action to support people who are isolated, traumatized, and scared in the midst of the pandemic. The Executive Director of...
The Bay Area Book Festival Monthly: WHAT WE’RE READING
Since its inception in 2015, The Bay Area Book Festival has built a reputation for the quality of its literary programs, its international scope, and its commitment to informed public discourse, empathy, and open-mindedness. Although we've had to cancel our in-person...
Bay Area Book Festival #Unbound: Chat with Authors from Your Living Room
Resilience: “The ability of a substance or object to spring back easily into shape.” The Oxford English Dictionary could have been describing this year’s Bay Area Book Festival, because that’s exactly what they’re doing. Although the beloved festival only announced...
Great Science Fiction and Fantasy Books
In the mood for a great fantasy but aren't sure which one to pick? Or maybe you're eager for a new sci-fi book but haven't found one that stands out to you yet. Search no more, for here are five new books (and one old favorite) that definitely deserve a place in your...
Great Books for Kids’ Easter Baskets
It's nearly Easter! If you find yourself needing a small break from egg hunts (or just needing the kids to settle down for a minute), take a look at these great books to celebrate Easter and Spring. From Biscuit to Fancy Nancy, there's something for a wide range of...
Spring Graphic Novel Roundup
It's been raining in Sacramento for the last several days, and we have the COVID-19 quarantine going on. It's times like this that beg for book lovers to settle in with a hot drink and an exciting new read. If your eyes are begging for something with more than just...
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BESPOKE SERVICES
Happy One-Year Anniversary!
Well, it’s been one year since we opened our doors to the public. The thing I distinctly remember was Ross pushing to open today and me still painting the two window boxes as the Downtown Partnership crew was walking through the door to see what we had created, camera...
Create Your Own Bookstore Valentine’s Day Event
Last night, we hosted such a fun event at our store, Capital Books, for Valentine's Day. I knew that I wanted to create something different that gave both established couples and those just starting to date something to do besides going out to dinner — or in addition...
It’s like moving twice a month
I realized it's been many, many months since I blogged about our journey of opening, and now running, a bookstore. January will mark the one-year anniversary since we signed the lease. About this time last year, Ross and I were scouting locations to do this little...
8 Weeks In…And We’re Still Alive!
Wow! It really has been quite a while since I last wrote a blog post. I actually feel like I'm crawling out of the hole that sucked me in when we started renovating the store space 6 months ago. Yeah, we realized this evening that it's been half a year since we...
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
It's amazing how many times this one children's book, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, can be applied to real life. Starting on one project, which leads to a whole new, unplanned-for, project, happens to all of us. Despite our meticulous planning for renovating the space...
Putting Lipstick on a Pig
We're starting to feel the pressure now that March is nearly halfway over. When we started renovating the space two months ago, April seemed so far away. Now, it's right around the corner. When we're there tearing things apart, many people poke their heads in the open...
