How long have you worked at Lemuria? About a year, part time.

What do you do at Lemuria? I assist customers, and help organize and shelve books. My section is World History, and I do a bit of design work for Lemuria from time to time.

Talk to us what you’re reading right now. A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara. I’m not even done with it and I know that it has my vote for the National Book Award.

What’s currently on your bedside table (book purgatory)? It’s not really in purgatory, since I just read it, but it’s Genghis Khan by Frank Mclynn .

How many books do you usually read at a time? Never more than 2. To read more makes me finish less.

Favorite authors? Edward Gibbon, Lemony Snicket, Joseph Campbell, and J.R.R. Tolkien.

Any particular genre that you’re especially in love with? Nonfiction and history especially, because you learn something; and fantasy/fairytales (you can see me as Alice on the left, back when I was blonde).

What did you do before you worked at Lemuria? I was an intern at Fresh Ink (very cute place next to Lemuria)!

If you could share lasagna with any author, dead or alive, who would it be? What would you ask them? Joseph Campbell, because it’s rare to read an author you can learn so much from and can show you just how beautiful and interconnected people are. He’s a poet of history and philosophy!

Why do you like working at Lemuria? I get paid to be around books and people who like them.

If Lemuria could have ANY pet (mythical or real), what do you think it should be? I keep asking Kelly for a cat but she says no because there’s a restaurant downstairs, and she doesn’t see my point that we wouldn’t have to feed it then. Kelly please. We could call him The Great Catsby. Or Mew-dora Welty. Or Purr-man Melville.

How long have you worked at Lemuria? Just shy of a year, I came to the mythical land of Lemuria last November.

What do you do at Lemuria? I work at some of our off site events (Fondren’s First Thursday WOOP WOOP), I help keep our new website updated, and I work in our art, drama, movies and tv sections. Oh, and sometimes I bring snacks.

Talk to us about what you’re reading right now. I’m currently reading City on Fire, a debut novel by Garth Risk Hallberg that will be released October 13th (and is our First Editions Club pick for October). It’s a long book and I’m only about halfway through it, but I think it is worth the marathon of a read. So far I am really enjoying the scenes of NYC in the 70’s and how the layers and complexity of the city are seen through the characters he writes about. Ask me again when I’m finished! P.S., Garth will be here on October 19 at 5:00 for a signing and reading.

I’m also almost to the end of this new collection, Adam Johnson’s Fortune Smiles is reminding me why I love short stories. I have a tendency to react audibly to what I am reading (sorry, again, to everyone in Cups), and the stories here have brought out all sorts of loud and rude reactions. I also just finished reading John Logan’s Red, a play about the abstract expressionist painter Mark Rothko, and I am a few pages into In Montmartre: Picasso, Matisse and the Birth of Modernist Art by Sue Roe, a sort of group biography of a number of artists in Paris.

What’s currently on your bedside table (book purgatory)? My “book purgatory” IS my bedside table and now stands taller than any other furniture in my home, so I’ll just list the books up to bat: Salman Rushdie’s newest novel Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights, Jesse Eisenberg’s book of stories Bream Gives Me Hiccups, and A Doubter’s Almanac by Ethan Canin. I can’t decide which is stronger: the feeling of accomplishment at finishing a book and moving it out of the purgatory, or the excitement of picking another one up and making room to add to the table…

I know it’s difficult, but give us your current top five books. You’re right. This is difficult. Here are five books that are floating around my head for one reason or another.

Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff. This novel is at the top of the list of books I’ve read this year; an instant favorite. If you haven’t picked it up yet, shame on you! Go! Now! Run to Lemuria!

Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino. Another favorite, this is the kind of book that will strike a variety of people for a variety of reasons. I like the conversations that follow recommending it; conversations about imagination and perspective, and the possibilities people see in the world.

The Secret Wisdom of the Earth by Christopher Scotton. I mention this one because I was really, really surprised by how much I liked reading this book a few months ago. It wasn’t a big blip on my radar at first, but when a coworker could not stop talking about it, I decided to give it a shot. I admit it, I cried.

Naked by David Sedaris. It is very difficult to choose which of his books is my favorite, but for anyone unfamiliar with David Sedaris, I think Naked is a good place to start. To say that he is a funny writer writing funny stories about the sad/funny things in his life is doing a great injustice.

The Neverending Story by Michael Ende. I don’t read as many children’s books as I should these days, BUT I DARE ANYONE TO FIND ONE BETTER THAN THIS. The Neverending Story was one of my favorite books as a kid and it still holds up. It was books like this that made lil Matty believe having an imagination was a good thing. Kids need that. So, I don’t care how old you are, I don’t care how cool you are, and I don’t care how you feel about the 1984 film adaption (a classic in its own right), you MUST read this book.

What did you do before you worked at Lemuria? Before I came to Lemuria, I was doing freelance design work and living like a nomad. Before that, I worked for a printing company, a blue jeans store, a screen printer, a university, a daycare, etc…

Why do you like working at Lemuria? Never a dull moment. If you visit and hear loud laughter, its me. Those Lemurians are a funny bunch. Really, Lemuria is such a unique environment. You can see it on the faces of new customers walking in for the first time; the atmosphere of the place truly has a power over anyone inside. It is why people keep coming back and it is what makes coming to work every day so easy. It’s the combination of the people in the place, their ideas, the conversations, and everyone’s desire to read and to learn. Lemuria offers a shared experience that is hard to find anywhere else.

If we could have any living author visit the store and do a reading, who would you want to come? Hmm. JK Rowling? I think it would be a lot of fun to see that many people just lose their minds in the presence of that kind of magic and celebrity.

If Lemuria could have ANY pet (mythical or real), what do you think it should be? We aren’t counting the Basilisk in the walls? Yeah, HP references are still cool.

How long have you worked at Lemuria? I recently joined the Lemuria team, it’s been about a month and a half.

What do you do at Lemuria?  I work the main front desk, the desk with the hovering ham, which occupies the central space of the non-fiction room. I am still technically in a period of training and learning the ropes, or books in this case.

Talk to us what you’re reading right now. I am currently reading Jonathan Franzen’s new novel Purity, just started today, and already I can say that this will be the most rewarding read of the month, no doubt.

What’s currently on your bedside table (book purgatory)? Purity by Jonathan Franzen, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Fortune Smiles by Adam Johnson, On Becoming a Novelist by John Gardner, The Writing Life by Annie Dillard, Zen in the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury, and a ESV Study Bible.

How many books do you usually read at a time? I used to read multiple books at a time but as of late I’ve been focusing on getting through the books that I have before me, one at a time, for this month. However, I usually move through a novel, collection of short stories and essays that change hands through the course of the week.

Favorite authors? William S. Burroughs, Annie Dillard, Evelyn Waugh, Carson McCullers, Italo Calvino, Cheryl Strayed, Thomas Mann, Zadie Smith, William Gass, Toni Morrison, D.H. Lawrence, Clarice Lispector, Knut Hamsun, George Eliot, and Sherwood Anderson.

What did you do before you worked at Lemuria? I was working at Broadstreet Bakery and Sal and Mookie’s, I am still at Broadstreet, and I work in the kitchen. Just go down the stairs and to the left after buying your next favorite novel from us and enjoy a wonderful breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

If you could share lasagna with any author, dead or alive, who would it be? It would be a most amusing experience to have lasagna with G.K. Chesterton. He would most likely eat off of my plate while in conversation riddled with paradoxical reversals and covering all the bases of humanity from Thomistic philosophy, the aesthetics of cubism, gothic architecture, and fall somewhere amongs “The Small is Beautiful” movement.

Why do you like working at Lemuria? All those books that line the shelves are as diverse and characteristic as the as my fellow workers and the readers themselves who frequent this very special place.

If Lemuria could have ANY pet (mythical or real), what do you think it should be? There happens to be this adorable stray kitten behind Broadstreet that could desperately use a home like Lemuria. Plus, I’m under the impression that it may possess otherworldly powers. [UPDATE: Kelly has adopted Dumpster Kitten, and she is now getting fat and spoiled]

How long have you worked at Lemuria? 3 years? 3 and a half years? I’ll have to consult my palm pilot.

What do you do at Lemuria? I manage the fiction room, run all of our social media and the blog, and I’m currently running the operational side of our First Editions club along with my coworker Austen. I also keep people on their toes about what color my hair will be from one day to the next (currently working with a plum-apricot thing).

What’s currently on your bedside table (book purgatory)? Watchmen by Alan Moore, Room by Emma Donoghue, William Gay’s posthumous novel Little Sister Death, Naked at Lunch by Mark Haskell Smith, Sophia by Michael Bible, The Man Who Corrupted Hadleyburg by Mark Twain, and about 15 more. There’s hardly any room for anything else on my bedside table at this point.

How many books do you usually read at a time? Just one. If I try to juggle, I end up reading nothing at all. Not very efficient, but it gets the job done.

I know it’s difficult, but give us your current top five books.

The Orenda by Joseph Boyden

Cartwheeling in Thunderstorms by Katherine Rundell

Plainsong by Kent Haruf

Free Men by Katy Simpson Smith (out in February- I cannot WAIT to talk to you guys about this one)

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (this one never leaves the rotation)

What did you do before you worked at Lemuria? I worked at Burberry as a men’s clothing specialist, and before that I (very, very briefly) sold Buicks. It was a hilarious disaster. I’ve also spent way too much time as a barista, been a summer camp program director, and slung chicken wings- making me perpetually smell like fry grease. My life is dripping with glamour.

If you could share lasagna with any author, dead or alive, who would it be? What would you ask them?

Dear Oscar Wilde,

Thank you for coming to my lasagna dinner party. While I appreciate your very obvious distaste for the other guests in attendance, I have to ask that you please stop telling them you have to leave due to your “hereditary severe chill”. I assure you, there is no such thing; please have a seat. Would you mind terribly if I asked you several personal, pressing questions about your personal life and the prejudice you faced due to your sexual orientation while living in England? You do mind? I’m so sorry. Enjoy your lasagna.

Why do you like working at Lemuria? I’m surrounded every day by creative, funny people who love books as much as I do, and I get to sit down and consider these books in every task that is on my to-do list. It’s really a wonderful job. Also, no dress code, so I get to wear my Buffy the Vampire Slayer cosplay every day. Just kidding. I wear wizard robes, I just wanted to make you think I was cool.

If we could have any living author visit the store and do a reading, who would you want to come? Someone like Johnathan Tropper. I like to imagine that he’d do a damn good reading, then we’d all go out for drinks after and end up becoming best friends for life and getting a time share in Florida together.

If you had the ability to teleport, where would you go first? I’d go straight to a flat in London with huge windows overlooking the city. It would be raining and twilight and Miles Davis would be playing in the background. I would drink wine and eat lots of pasta. Yes, I thought about this for a long time before I answered.

How long have you worked at Lemuria? I have been a Lemurian for a bit over three months.

What do you do at Lemuria? I am a certified book therapist. I’ve got all the recommendations you may be needing. My ambition is to be able to put a book in your hands that could turn sadness into serendipity; to give you a book that will turn serendipity into stark consciousness; or to give you that book to turn too much consciousness into surreal fantasy.

What are you reading now? Presently, I am reading a couple of books, but the I’m the most excited about my signed copy of Salman Rushdie’s Two Years Eight Months and Twenty Eight Nights. I pulled it straight off the UPS truck the other day, and since then, the novel has been attempting to pull my jaw straight from my face with Rushdie’s legendary myth-making ability.

What’s currently on your bedside table (book purgatory)? I don’t have a bedside table for my books, rather my to-read list is scattered in intimidating stacks about my bed. Often, my “bedside table books” become the very pillow I sleep on. Here’s my short list: The Gun by Fumi Nori Naka Muri, Orphan Master’s Son by Adam Johnson, The Orenda by Joseph Boyden, and City on Fire by Garth Risk Hallberg.

Favorite authors? I like to keep an open mind about authors and books, so I keep an eye out for new authors, stories, and styles. But if I’m forced: Haruki Murakami, David Mitchell, Salman Rushdie, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Tom Robbins.

Any particular genre that you’re especially in love with? Just like my taste in music, it is important for me to diversify in my reading. I’m drawn towards the fantasy and sci-fi end of fiction, and I spent most of my teenage years in continuous daydream of Marquez’s magical realism. I studied Political Science and Philosophy at Millsaps, so I’m also an idealistic news junky and enjoy reading theory just as much as the New York Times.

What did you do before you worked at Lemuria? You mean besides laying the groundwork for my imminent world domination scheme? Well, I worked for “The Man” for several years. The Man being large Oil and Gas developers. I was a contract worker that went around the state and did archival and legal research concerning the development of Mississippi’s growing use of horizontal drilling operations.

If you could share lasagna with any author, dead or alive, who would it be? What would you ask them? Well, I’d say Tom Robbins, but I’m afraid lasagna might give him gas. Maybe J. K. Rowling, so I could tell my friends that I went on a date with her? Hrmm… maybe I’d invite Plato, Cornel West, and William Faulkner over for lasagna and pontificate the correlations between cheese, slavery, poetry and democracy.

Why do you like working at Lemuria? The books, of course. Just being in close proximity to the shelves, intelligent coworkers and the coolest customers in the tri-state area, makes Lemuria an unabashedly inspirational place to be and to work.

If you had the ability to teleport, where would you go first? Teleportation gives me awful nausea. So, I’d prefer to keep my feet solidly on the ground, and allow Lemuria’s shelves to transport me toward infinite surrealities.