Al Kotob Khan is unusual among Maadi's bookshops in that it's also a publishing house — the same operation that sells books on its shelves also publishes some of them. It runs two branches in Maadi plus one downtown, and hosts readings and community events that give it more of a literary-workshop feel than a standard retail bookshop.
A good stop if you want translated Egyptian fiction or to see Cairo's small-press scene up close.