Capital Books owners Ross and Heidi Rojek started a book review business in 2008, when most of the arts sections in local newspapers were either scaling back or closing altogether. We expanded our book business over the last 15 years, rather than shrink. It is our love of — first and foremost — the Sacramento community, as well as books and the acknowledgment no new bookstore in downtown that called to us.

Since opening Capital Books just before a global pandemic, political unrest, and riots from 2019 to 2021, we have become a beacon in a downtown that has been shrinking instead of growing. We didn’t close our doors during the pandemic, instead offering curbside pickup and book delivery (still in place today) to a community sheltering in place. Since 2021, we doubled down by expanding onto two more floors of our building and hosted several successful author events — from local authors at our bookstore to best-selling authors who commanded a larger audience at The Crest Theater or larger nearby venues, such as the Crocker Museum. We believe that, together, we rise, and employ that mindset with partnering with businesses around us to bring our community literary events that rival those found in the Bay Area.

It’s our close proximity to the Crest Theater that gives us confidence and excitement about the store. Our ability to host author events at the Crest is an opportunity that few other bookstores in the county have—and it’s right next door.

In February 2021, we expanded into our basement—Another Universe—which houses our science fiction books, toys, games, Magic the Gathering, Pokemon, and Dungeons & Dragons accessories. At the same time, we opened another venue down the street to complement Another Universe. There and Back Game Cafe was also opened in February 2021, offering a rich fandom experience, craft coffees, specialty drinks, beer, wine and sake, along with food. There, people can settle into one of the many games available to play. That cafe was closed in November 2024 with regret, but as Ross says, “Math is Math” and the cafe just was not going to break even or make money at any point. Good experiment, but over with regrets.

What’s Next?

While our second level has the best views of K Street, it has been a challenge for us due to our inability to put in an elevator without compromising the structure of the building. We routinely rent out our Flamingo Lounge near the window for events and Feast & Fiction, the bulk of this floor has predominantly been used for storage. And we think that’s just sad.

So, we’ve decided to take a risk and develop the second floor into our Romance book level called Knotty Novels. Romance is the most popular genre of books, and as we expand our selection we’ve also seen our customers wanting even more Romance books in our store. We wanted to be able to offer not only more than one or two bookcases of that genre, but also an entire floor of Historical, Queer, Monster, Romantacy, Contemporary, Paranormal, Dark, and Fantasy Romance books. This expansion has also created an explosion of author events, from local to national romance authors, and also using our unique relationship with the Crest Theater to host hundreds of book fans at a time.

These bays of books will be designed to be able to move against one wall, to allow a group to rent the entire second floor for a corporate event, wedding, engagement party, or whatever your heart desires. Our vision includes several marble tables and chairs, an area for simple catering prep and serving, and the ability to rent china, flatware, silverware, and dishes that match our swanky second-floor theme.