How long have you worked at Lemuria?
I’m going on 13 years.
How long have you been reading?
Since I was born. I came out of the womb reading.
My original Very Hungry Caterpillar has fallen apart and is now held together in a Ziploc bag. I had a Maggie and Her Chickens I really liked and a book on farm animals. I still have all of them.
When did you start really collecting books?
When I started working here. But I’ve really quit collecting, now. I buy first editions sometimes, but I just really don’t have room. I just buy books by authors I like.
What do you look for in a good book?
A good story. It just has to be a good story. It has to be interesting. If the story isn’t any good, there’s no point in reading it. Sometimes you can have a book with excellent writing and is very literary, but the story sucks. Who would want to read that just because it’s literary? I hate the word literary.
What book do you think is the best-kept secret?
I don’t keep any of my stuff a secret. I let people know about books I like.
How do you organize your books? Do you?
I don’t. I don’t need to find them once I’ve read them. I do not reread; I don’t have enough time. I have to keep reading new books. The most organization I have is a to-read bookcase. But it is as damn full as the rest of them. My side of the room is a wreck.
Is there a system to how you choose what to read next?
I usually try to read books before the date it’s coming out on. But sometimes I just need to read a good murder.
What book have you liked most that came out this year?
The next one I’m going to read. That’s usually my answer.
Are you a one-at-a-time reader, or are you reading many books at once?
One, because that’s the way I like it.
What are you reading right now?’
I just finished something last night; I think it’s called Swimming at Night. I liked it. It isn’t coming out until 2013. I just started this other book called, Trial of Fallen Angels by James Kimmel. It’s coming out in November, but I’m not the far into it yet.
When do you read?
I read at night and on Sundays I get up and read.
What do you look for in a good bookstore?
Well I don’t really go to any. The first thing I do when I go in a bookstore is talk to staff. A good bookstore has people in there who think. You can make anything look good, it’s about more than that.
What are your bookstore pet peeves?
That could be a long list. If I walk in a bookstore in the North, I don’t like it if they don’t have much Southern fiction.
Top 5 favorite books in your library right now:
I don’t have an all time top 5; it changes as I read. The only thing I could probably tell you , as far as my collection goes, are what I consider to be my most valuable books. But that doesn’t mean that they are my favorite books that I have read, there’s a difference.
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