Welcome to our most subjective issue of the year.

Every January, we give our readers a list of categories and ask them to name the best restaurants, dry cleaners, hospitals, and music venues. Sometimes City Paper editorial staffers can predict who our readers will pick, as was the case with this year’s winner of Best Karaoke. Other times, we learn about the winning businesses during the fact-checking process. (Would it surprise you to learn that City Paper reporters aren’t so well-informed on D.C.’s personal trainer market?)

Whether the results are predictable or not, each one celebrates a certain aspect of life in D.C. A publication in the nation’s capital must name a best lawyer, of course. And in the staff picks section, the word nerds who make City Paper every week had to call out not one, but three booksellers.

You won’t agree with every opinion and superlative here. Maybe your experience with the readers’ choice for best restaurant was less than ideal. Maybe you like the liquor store/coffee shop/bar by your office better than those we named as winners. Hold onto those feelings. Remember, there’s always next year.