Tales from the Bookstore

Hey EN502, 

The other day at a party, I referred to my job as a “power trip.” I do not think many people would consider a bookseller as a power hungry position, but I do not think most people are readers. I get to order books. I get to make staff picks. I get to choose and wrap blind dates with books. For a kid who grew up enamored with bookstores, these tasks thrill me. I am curating other reader’s experiences. 

In addition to books, our shop also sells a myriad of specialty items the young people are obsessed with. We sell more Jelly Cats and Sonny Angels than books, but at least these items keep the store open and the books on the shelves. I was not familiar with Sonny Angels, or the intensity of Sonny Angel obsession until a Saturday when we got fifteen calls during an eight hour shift inquiring if we sold the figurines. The Jelly Cats are cute though. I gave my boyfriend a vaguely stoned-looking stuffed cat from the shop and it has become the light of our lives. 

I am looking forward to getting to know the regulars — that was my favorite part of previous customer service positions, but for now I am enjoying the spontaneous interactions. I adore when I get asked for recommendations, especially when its parents looking for books for their late elementary schoolers (middle grade novels go hard). 

Five hours from now I will be at the airport, ready to start my Pacific Northwest Adventure! Fingers crossed everything goes smoothly. I will update when I return. 

What am I reading now? 

Relentless Melt by Jeremy P. Bushnell. I am only sixty-ish pages in but it’s queer and set in 1909 Boston and there is spooky magic and I am definitely obsessed. 

What am I listening to? 

The Spider Verse Soundtrack 

What am I watching? 

I saw Across the Spider-Verse twice in theaters, so like everyone else in the world I have thoughts about it. I have also started watching Succession because I could not escape the constant news articles about it when it came to a close earlier this year. 

I hope everyone’s June is going well! Happy 1 month post-grad!

Cheers, 

Michaela