Happy Days of Bookselling

Here are some of the things that happened Wednesday that made it a great day to be a bookseller:

1. I was able to tell a man buying a copy of The Secret Life of Lobsters that Trevor Corson has a new book coming out and that we were having an event with him! I wrote down the book’s name (Zen of Fish) and the date of our reading (June 14th) and sent him out the door with a smile.

2. It happened twice in one day! I was able to tell a man buying a used copy of Pete Hamill’s Forever that his new book (North River) is coming out in June. I always feel good when I can give people information they didn’t even know they wanted. Hopefully it makes them happy and lets them know I care about what I do. It makes me happy to think I might actually know a little bit about what I'm doing in this world.

3. When I'm out on the floor, I should let you know, I am a total snoop. I generally always have an ear out for someone talking about a book whose title they couldn't remember or wondering where we might keep a certain book. I'd like to think I'm subtle when I shimmy over and say "I'm sorry to interrupt, but can I help you?" Well, in this case, I overheard two women talking about a book they had read about but didn't see on the shelf. I knew the book--How to Talk to a Widower--because I had a galley of it right on my desk, and I also knew that it wouldn't be out until July. Bookseller extraordinaire Jess was dispatched downstairs and found the book amongst the forest of galleys on my desk. They got my galley and I got a big smile from them. There was a moment of pain as I hadn't gotten to read it yet, but I remind myself that I have plenty of others to choose from and at least I know this one will be read. But I hope they come back and tell me if they liked it.

4. I had to tell someone the book they were looking for was out of print. But maybe we had it used downstairs? We did! Yes!

And last but not least…
5. A customer told me I had great hair.