How long have you worked at Lemuria?
I think about 24 years. It could be more. I came here in 1993 but before that I had worked 4 or 5 years.
Do you collect books, or just buy them?
Both. I buy big books. I bought that New York Book of Dogs for my collection. My husband confiscates all the books I bring in the house. Anything I bring home isn’t going to be collectable because he’s going to write in them. He marks up and down the sides and underlines in strange fluorescent covers. The dogs eat a lot of the books, too. So it’s really hard to have a collection of fine books, but we have quite a large collection of books in various stages of destruction. Plus we have all the books our children can’t afford to have in their small abode. I live in a 4800 square foot and there are books everywhere—in the bathroom, under the bed.
Do you ever hide books from your husband?
No. Well, let me think back. Yes, if I have a signed first edition and I don’t want it written in, then I’ll hide it upstairs.
What do you look for in a good book?
I look for an intriguing human dilemma. I also like moral uncertainty
What book do you think is the best-kept secret?
No One is Here Except All of Us by Ramona Ausubel. It’s a marvelous book that nobody knows about.
How long have you been seriously reading?
Probably since I was about 14.
Do you remember what book made you love reading?
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Betty Smith.
What are you reading right now?
Infidel, Hirsi Ali
Is there a system to how you choose what to read next/the order you read books in?
It’s just a spontaneous thing. I choose Infidel is because a customer recommended it to me. I really take what customer recommendations seriously. A lot of times I’ll be sitting at work and I’ll read a review in the Wall Street Journal. I’ll talk to Kelly about it, and if she thinks it sounds good, I’ll read it. So much of what I read is because we sell books to each other.
What book have you liked most that came out this year?
The Round House by Louise Erdrich. I’d never read her before; I had a barrier against reading her. I know she writes about Indians, and I was scared the story was going to be dated. I don’t like historical fiction. It wasn’t. The storyline was so good and well put that the book was seamless. I could not stop and put it down. It has a little bit of Indian myth in it, a who-done-it in there, a coming of age story; a little bit of everything.
Do you have a favorite book?
I used to say my favorite book was Walker Percy’s Moviegoer, and I reread it a year ago and I didn’t know why I liked it. I hate to say that, a lot of people like it, but I’m not one of them anymore.
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