Secret Lives Of Booksellers & Librarians - James Patterson & Matt Eversman

Books On Books

Rating: 7.5/10

I couldn’t resist this invitation to enter the world of booksellers and librarians and have them divulge their secrets, written in their own words.

I thought I in turn would share one of my own with you.

During my tenure at Smithbooks, a small format bookstore that eventually became Chapters, I made a book a bestseller; See Jane Run by Joy Fielding. After devouring it, I ordered a ton for my store and talked it up to everyone. Soon our location had sold so many that our corporate buyer bought it for all 400 stores, and them bam…a bestseller. That feeling, of placing a book in the hands of a reader is a euphoria unlike anything else I could imagine.

After reading this cover to cover I declare the following: I am a natural born bookseller. The fact that I am no longer employed to do so makes no difference. There’s still time, so I am putting it out into the universe.

Footnote: My favourite story was about the Book Tree. At Christmas a store fills their Christmas Tree with slips of paper, all book requests from children in need. Customers can then buy a book, or books, for these children. The true spirit of the holiday at work!

Book Pairing(s): A Velocity Of Being by Maria Popova, The Literature Book by James Canton, Why We Read by Shannon Reed