How long have you worked at Lemuria?

About five years.

When did you start really collecting books? (Is it a collection, or more of a hoard?)

When I was in high school, I read books, but I wasn’t a book nerd. In college I was an English literature major, so I read books, but I didn’t collect books. I just bought books I liked. We didn’t have a good bookstore where I grew up; we just had a Walden books. If I had grown up with Lemuria, I probably would have a book hoarding problem.

What do you look for in a good book?

I read for many different reasons, as I think all people do. Sometimes I read for the poetry or the lyricism of the writing. I read for escape or just a good story. I read to learn about other people and why they do the things they do. I read for information; about real people who have actually lived their lives.

What book do you think is the best-kept secret?

The Prime of Life. It’s a memoir by Simone Debouveoir. It’s one of my favorite books.

 How long have you been reading?

I’ve never been a non-stop reader. I like to read, but I don’t read obsessively. I’m usually not sitting down and reading a book all day long.

How do you organize your books? (Do you?)

When I lived by myself, I had no organization to my books. That was before I worked at Lemuria–being single and not working at Lemuria led to zero book organization. But since I live with my sweetheart now, it is much more complicated. I keep the most precious, valuable, collectable books in my room on 2 bookcases. But I am seriously running out of room.

In the music room, we have beautiful built-in bookshelves that have lots of my sweetheart’s really old books. And in the living room, I put a lot of non-fiction. I need more bookshelves. I have sent out distress calls to family members, and nobody has answered. I even asked for bookshelves for my birthday, but everyone has forgotten that I asked for them. I have gotten desperate. There are books all over the desk, all over the bedside table, all of the buffet in the kitchen. They are everywhere. I need a book makeover.

 Is there a system to how you choose what to read next/the order you read books in?

Lemuria is the system.

 What book have you liked most that came out this year?

The Orphan Master’s Son by Adam Johnson

 What are you reading right now?

Shout her Lovely Name by Natalie Serber

Stray Decoroum by George Singleton

om Love by George Minot

Thomas Jefferson by Jon Meacham

The Orphan Masters Son by Adam Johnson (I’m rereading it for book club)

When do you read?

I like to read before I go to bed.That’s my preferred time, but my sweetheart distracts me, and reminds me that reading is not a social activity. So I try to also read in the morning before he’s awake.

Is there an author you would like to meet?

There isn’t a particular author I am pining to meet, however, I do like meeting the authors that come to Lemuria. I enjoy the surprise; you have no idea what kind of person they are going to be. You could love their books, and not like the author, or the reverse. You never know what to expect when that author walks in the door.

 Do you have a favorite author that you have already met?

There are so many that I’ve really loved meeting. In fact, I always have an author-crush-of-the-moment (ACOTM). My ACOTM is George Singleton. I’ve also had a crush on Karl Marlantes, Audrey Niffenegger (she floated when she walked. She floated through the bookstore, and she was a true book lover). I’m sure there are more authors, but there are so many I can’t name them all.

Are you a one-at-a-time reader, or are you reading many books at once?

Before Lemuria, I rarely read more than one book at a time, but now I always read more than one book at a time. I read maybe 5 books at a time.

What do you look for in a good bookstore?

A good literature selection. I like old books, so if I’m going around to bookstores, I look for books specially from the periods of 1875-1930. When I started collecting books from that period, I didn’t realize it was the golden age of book art. Now when I go to bookstores, I look for books from that period.

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.

 

How long have you worked at Lemuria?

5 months; that’s not a very long time.

Is there a book you wish that you had bought, but didn’t?

Not really. I’m glad I bought Junot Diaz’s This is How You Lose Her. When I’m collecting a book, I want to love the writer and the look of the book.

What makes a book good?

I just graduated from college, meaning I just started reading things of my own choosing and not of my teacher’s choosing. I like writing that is challenging but also makes you a better person in whatever way art makes you a better person and makes you feel altruistic. In nonfiction, I want something game-changing. I’m going into Teacher Corp, so I’m reading all these books about education. and I have a very serious side that wants the world to be a better place.

What book do you think is the best-kept secret?

Lydia Davis’ and Maira Kalman’s books.

 How long have you been seriously reading?

I don’t know. since I learned to read I guess.

 Do you remember the first book you read?

Reading The Box Car Children really late at night and staying up to see how it might end.

 How do you organize your books? (Do you?)

Yes, and I reorganize all the time. which is what I do with everything, especially books. I order them by both genre and the time in my life I read, am reading, or will read them.

Do you read many books at once, or just one at a time?

Since I started working here, I have so many books that I have to choose one. People ask what I’m reading and I can only feasibly describe one book.

Is there is a system for what you choose to read next?

I innandate myself with books, and then there is always something to read. I’m not caught up enough to breeze through a bunch of books.

If you had no pressure from outside, what kind of book would you read right now?

I probably ask myself that every day. which is so silly, but I do. If I could freeze space-time right now and lay on the floor right here with a cup of coffee. I would probably pick up Three Day Affair by Michael Kardos. I want to read it, but I have so many books in my metaphorical stack of to-read books, I’ll never actually get to it. It’s been calling to me. I had such a good experience getting to know my professors at Millsaps, that if an author is a teacher, I want to read what they are writing.

What are you reading right now?

I’m reading Whatever it Takes by Paul Tough. And I’m finally getting around to Cloud Atlas, which Simon recommended to me my first day here. I think I have some other things going that are interesting. And when I have a bad day, I go home and read a few advice columns from Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed.

When do you read?

I frequently read in public places between jobs or appointments or obligations or between work and going out at night.

What do you look for in a good bookstore?

I can’t remember, because I work in one now.

How long have you worked at Lemuria?

Since January 2005.

What do you look for in a good book?

If it can make me laugh, cry, or angry. If it can move me in some way, give me some emotion, like The Ice Bear and The Snow Leopard by Jackie Morris. She’s my favorite author and illustrater of children’s books. Her and Katie DiCamillo

How long have you been seriously reading?

Probably since I was 23; after I got out of school. Before that I would occasionally read good stuff, but mostly it was trash. I wasn’t a frequent buyer at Lemuria before I worked here. I went to stores where books were cheap. But I always loved Lemuria. I would just come to look at the books.

 How do you organize your books? (Do you?)

They aren’t in alphabetical order or anything. They are organized by category. The heavy ones are on the bottem shelf so they don’t bring the whole shelf down. I don’t keep a lot of books, just things you can actually use, like Gardening books. Everything else I give to the library. I usually give away all the books I get from here. The ones I keep are odd, like books about toilets.

The books you keep, why do you keep them?

Most of them are factual or books that are about things I’m really interested in that I would enjoy reading at a later date for no reason. I might just happen to be standing by the bookshelf and just pull one of the shelf and read it.

Is there a system to how you choose what to read next/the order you read books in?

Whatever Advanced Reader Copies Emily hands me. I have them in chronological order; I try to read the ones that are coming out soonest.

 What book have you liked most that came out this year?

These are my 3 favorites children’s picture books at present:

Too Tall Houses, Gianno Marino

Clever Jack Takes the Cake, Candace Fleming, G. Brian Karas

Big Mean Mike, Michelle Knudson

Well, you know my actual favorite book I read this year, was 50 Shades of Grey. I thought it was amusing and quite enjoyable.

What are you reading right now?

I just finished reading Wonder by R.J. Palacio.

When do you read?

Between 8 and 10 o’clock in the evenings.

Are you a one-at-a-time reader, or are you reading many books at once?

I read books one at a time. With these crazy little themes going on, it’s hard enough to keep them separated. It’s kind of ridiculous. I read one, finish it, and move on.

Top 5 favorite books in your library right now:

1. The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, Kate DiCamillo
2. The Ice Bear, Jackie Morris
3. The Snow Leopard, Jackie Morris
4. Food for Thought, It has some good recipes in. I actually read recipe books more than I actually cook out of them.
5. Clever Jack Takes the Cake, Candace Fleming
6. Bear-Foot Book of Collected Poems

How long have you worked at Lemuria?

4 years.

Is there a book you wish that you had bought, but didn’t?

Generally if I want to buy a book, I do. It’s a kind of sickness.

What do you look for in a good book?

I really like a book that seems like all of its parts work together, not just the plot or the characterization or the style, but all of it going towards the same goal. I definitely gravitate towards writers that use a lot of words but use them well. Hemingway’s super terse books are very precise, but I think you can do that and use a lot of words, like John Irving. It is effortless to read that kind of book; all the parts are working together.

How long have you been seriously reading?

It probably isn’t true, but I want to say since I was first reading chapter books. My dad used to take me to the library once a week and I remember when he graduated me from the books with lots of pictures to a middle grade mystery. I was probably in first grade. There is a long period of time during which I don’t really remember if I read.

 How do you organize your books?

I’ve done different things depending on where I’ve lived. I’ve lived a lot of places since I’ve been a book collector. At one point I had read 75% of the books I owned, which is not the case anymore, but I had the poetry in one place, and my fiction alphabetized by author.

Right now, this is how they are organized: I have a bookcase of books currently in circulation, like ARCs I need to read, it’s also the catchall for books I don’t have a place for yet.  That one is the active bookcase. I have a paperback bookcase that is doubled up. I have a bookcase for my short hardbacks and a regular sized hardback bookcase too. I have another bookcase of hodgepodge. They are organized only in odd organization.

 What book have you liked most that came out this year?

One Last Good Time by Michael Kardos. I was just really impressed with his stories and writing. I’m really excited for Mr. Michael. I love stories. I’ve read a lot of short story collections this year. Battleborn was really good too.

 What do you want in a short story?

Harold Bloom once said that short stories are either Chekhovian or Borgesian and by that he meant the Chekhov stories are rooted in reality but a bit fantastical and the Borges are fantastical, but told in a mundane way. I like them both, but if it’s done well, I  like the Borgesian side better. Like Karen Russell. I really like that dichotomy and tension.

 What are you reading right now?

I’m reading the Name of the Wind by Rothfuss. I have 200 pages left. It’s a big book. I’m hoping it will be the book to break me out of the reading funk I’ve been in since I quit smoking.

 When do you read?

Any time. All the time. Especially in the morning. I prefer the morning. I like coffee and reading. Beer and reading is good too though.

 Are you a one-at-a-time reader, or are you reading many books at once?

Both. If I start to read too many books at once, something, or more than one something will drop off. They will fight each other, and there will be one reigning champion who gets finished. I sometimes can read a variety of things at once; a novel and short stories, essays. But it’s hard for me to read more than one thing, so I try not to. Though the temptation is always there when I’m surrounded by so many books.

 What do you look for in a good bookstore?

I really like for a bookstore to have a good backlist. Not just the newest book by the author, but also their 3^rd book. A good depth of material. I really like used bookstores for that reason.

Top 5 favorite books in your library right now (in no particular order):

1. One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez

2. The Fountainhead, Ayn Rand

3. The Phantom Tollbooth, Juster Norton

4. Cider House Rules, John Irving

5. Basic 8, Daniel Handler. (He’s Lemony Snicket)

How long have you worked at Lemuria?

Since October of 2008, so for 4 years. I started as a senior in college. I was basically living here.

When did you start really collecting books? Is it a collection, or more of a hoard?

I used to have a hoard. For a long time, I really just wanted books. I recently organized my books, so now I only have one copy of things.

 Is there a book you wish that you had bought, but didn’t?

I didn’t buy The Help. I have a signed Advanced Reader Copy, but I never bought a hardcover. Isn’t that bad? I work here. There is no excuse.

 What do you look for in a good book?

I live in two different worlds. I live in the kid world and I live in the adult world. In adult books, I look for good writing. In kid books, I look for a good plot. Good writing isn’t enough. I’ve read plenty of kids books with good writing, but there isn’t a plot.

It’s harder to write a good kids book. There is a reason when you ask people what their favorite book is, they often tell you a book they read when they were a kid.

 How long have you been reading?

I was seriously reading in 2^nd and 3^rd grade. I remember going through the whole Animorphs series and the Baby Sitters Club. I was in the club. When I moved here in 5^th grade, I didn’t have any friends so I just read on the playground. I was that kid. Shiloh, Where the Red Fern Grows; all those sad books.

 How do you organize your books?

I have a bookcase in my room for my current favorites. I have a bookcase for ARCs I want to read. I have bookcases for young adult, for nonfiction, two for fiction, one for southern fiction that flows into another case and finishes with children’s picture books. Then I use books in everything I decorate. I still have too many books, so I just stack them places.

 Is there a system to how you choose what to read next?

There’s always something I want to read next. I usually read whatever I’m thinking of  when I finish a book. If the book I’m reading isn’t really catching me, I’ll pick something else up. For 3 years I only read young adult books, but I’m trying hard to get back into the real world.

 What book have you liked most that came out this year?

Song of Achilles, Madeleine Miller

What are you reading right now?

Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler, Maira Coleman

Roald Dahl’s Book of Ghost Stories

 When do you read?

That’s a tricky question.  I fall asleep reading, so I have to read during the day. I fall asleep when it gets dark.

 Are you a one-at-a-time reader, or are you reading many books at once?

I read more than one. I was reading 10 books recently, but I’m trying to whittle it back down to 3. I can’t read more than 1 young adult book at a time; they all have to be different kinds of books.

 What do you look for in a good bookstore?

To be honest, I have a hard time finding a bookstore that meets what Lemuria is. Lemuria is the best a bookstore could be. When I travel and go to different bookstores, I am always disappointed. A bookstore shouldn’t just be new releases; if I only cared about new books, I wouldn’t go in a bookstore—those are the easy ones to find. A bookstore should be a collection of all of the people who work there. It’s a piece of art in how it’s culled. That kind of bookstore is going away. A good bookstore doesn’t feel like a retail store.

 

How long have you worked at Lemuria?

6 years.

 What Was The Best Lemuria Event?

Chuck Palahniuk, duh.

 When did you start really collecting books?

I didn’t really start reading until my junior or senior year in high school. For fun, that is; I could read before that.  I don’t know if I had a favorite book in high school—Geek Love, maybe. I took it with me to Germany between my sophomore and junior year. That, and a book about Jean Benet Ramsey. Everyone thought I was weird as shit for taking those two books with me, but that pretty much describes my reading taste to this day. Geek Love was the first book that made me love books.

 What do you look for in a good book?

Goodness. Does that count?

 Who is your favorite book character?

Ignatius from Confederacy of Dunces.

 You named your dog after him, right?

No actually, after I read that book, I named everything Ignatius. I had a goldfish named Ignatius. My grandmother heard me talking about my goldfish, and she asked me about that name. I told her it was from a book I really liked, and she said, “That was my father’s name”.  Isn’t that weird?

 So your dog is named after your great-grandfather?

Yes, and the Ignatius in Confederacy. If I ever have a child, I’m sure he will be named Ignatius. He’ll probably have a complex, because he’ll actually be named after my dog.

What book do you think is the best-kept secret?

Geek Love. Oh god, this is just going to be about Geek Love. Valley of the Dolls, Confederacy of Dunces—there are never enough people who have read that book.

 If you could meet any author, dead or alive, who would it be?

I’ve already met him, and I’ve hugged him (Chuck Palahnuik). I’m not a writer, so I don’t really have that desire to meet and pick brains.

 If any book could be real?

(Geek Love) no! Don’t write that. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.

 What meal would you want to fall from the sky?

Probably pancakes.

With syrup?

and butter

 What book could you not get enough of as a kid?

Goosebumps, and Archie comics. I have hundreds of Archie Comics still. If I could find my Goosebumps, I probably would have a hundred of them. I really loved the create your own story books, too.

 Have you read R.L. Stein’s new book, or are you going to?

Probably not, I don’t want to ruin it.

 Is there a system to how you choose what to read next?

I don’t really have a consistent pattern. But sometimes I’ve had enough fiction, and I want to read true crime. Or enough true crime, I want to read fiction. It kind of depends on the mood I’m in after I finish a book; I don’t really have it planned out.

 When do you read?

Before bed. Sadly that’s the only time

 Are you a one-at-a-time book reader, or are you reading many books at once?

Just one. I have much too much A.D.D. for that. If I try to read more than one book at a time, I’ll get the two books confused, plus whatever TV show I’m

watching, plus any conversations I’ve had. I’ve tried fiction and non-fiction, but no. Can’t make it work.

 How do you organize your books?

Most of all of my coffee table/ picture books are in one spot. I have 4 sets of bookcases with 3 shelves each that have a lot of books I’ve read. And one of those shelves, I have chronologically all the books I’ve read this year. I have a long wall of books in my bedroom that I intend to read in the near future, even though it is like a hundred books. In my study/living room I have all of my crafting books and books that have the most value to me, whether that’s monetary or sentimental.

 What are you reading right now?

Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon in honor of our dear Simon.

 What do you look for in a good bookstore? What are your bookstore pet peeves?

I don’t go to bookstores. I work too much, I don’t go anywhere. If I go to a bookstore on a vacation, I just look around, and think: I’ve got all of this already.

I like to see what they do different. Not necessarily bad or good, just how their store is laid out or how they do customer service.

Top 5 favorite books in your library right now (in no particular order):

1. A Father’s Story, Lionel Dahmer

2. Geek Love, Katherine Dunn

3. Confederacy of Dunces, John Kennedy Toole

4. Jitterbug Perfume, Tom Robbins

5. Choke, Chuck Palahniuk

How long have you worked at Lemuria?

3 months, almost.

Do you have a book collection or a hoard?

Maybe both. I think I collect books more than I hoard them, though. I hoard them for awhile, and then I do a de-weeding. I weed out my garden.

What do you do with your weeds?

I usually take them to an orphanage.

 Are you serious?

No, I give them away as gifts. I re-gift them. I give people dirty, used books.

How long have you been reading?

Six years. I started reading my freshmen year in college. I could read, but I didn’t read books. Ask me what my first book was I read.

What was the first book you read?

Plato’s Republic. It’s what got me into reading. I never liked reading until I read that. What I like in any book are the ideas behind it. More so than the art, I guess. I don’t have to agree with the ideas, as long as they make you think.

What’s best is when something is really artful and it has a lot of things going. I may not like it if I don’t agree with the ideas, but I will appreciate it. More so than a book that says nothing.

 How do you organize your books, or do you organize them at all?

 They are organized, but not in any recognizable pattern. They are organized by how hot they are, side-by-side. How sexy they look together. The ones that are going to make each other sexier, I put those 2 together.

 

Can you give an example?

My signed first edition of Barry Hannah’s Bats out of Hell would look really hot beside that new A.M. Homes book, May We Be Forgiven. They are all mylared. And the spine on the A.M. Homes is nice and white and clean, but it really sets off that Bats out of Hell. The A.M. Homes wouldn’t look very good by itself, it would be a too sterile, too clinical.  But

 when it’s beside that Barry Hannah, it’s a fine book. It looks good.

That would be the middle part of the sandwich. I’d probably put Either Or by Kierkegaard. all you need to know is that it is green and black and it will look real good. The metaphorical bread. Oh yeah, that’s hot. A purely aesthetic bookcase.

You and Grandfather built your bookcase?

 Yes, I was five.

What did you put on it before you read books?

I had animal books that I looked at. I looked at animals.

 Any animals you liked in particular?

Yes, I like goats a lot. Bats and cats. I had a whole bunch of goat, bat, and cat books.

Is there a system to how you choose what to read next/the order you read books in?

No. I do have 2 books I read annually. Every year in December I read Moby Dick, and every year in October I read Frankenstein. Those are two of my favorite books. I try to read Samuel Beckett fairly often. I also try to read a Walker Percy novel once a year. So there is a sort of system: a chaotic system.

I try to have a non-fiction book , a novel, a science-fiction or fantasy novel, a philosophy book, and a collection of short stories going at once. I try to read that every month. It doesn’t always work, though.

What book have you liked most that came out this year?

The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers.

 What are you reading right now?

Among Others, Jo Walton and Less Than Nothing, Slavoj Zizek

When do you read?

I start reading at 12 at night. 12 to 3 I read. And then I wake up at 5 and read from 5 to 7 and then I take a nap and then I go to work. It doesn’t work all the time.

What do you look for in a good bookstore?

Porn bathrooms. No, I’m joking, though Lemuria has one. Don’t put that in there, that’s confidential. I want some Miss Jodi playing over the speaker system. I love some Miss Jodi.

What is your bookselling theory?

You have to disarm them. You can do anything. My tactic is acting like an idiot, and then like I don’t know anything, but then I spring a book on them. They are so taken aback, they have to pay for it right then. They’re pulling out their credit card and throwing me money.

Top 5 favorite books in your library right now:

1.  Moby Dick, Melville

 2. Lancelot, Walker Percy

 3. Name of the Wind, Patrick Ruthfuss

 4. The Unnamable, Samuel Beckett

 5.Yellow Birds, Kevin Powers

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.

Mandy has been working at Lemuria for the last 4 months, after moving to Jackson from California. She has an MFA in Children’s literature, and spends most of her time in OZ.

When did you start really collecting books? Is it a collection, or more of a hoard?

That’s a fine line, isn’t it?  I’ve always had piles and shelves and masses of books. Books have always been my favorite thing evenbefore I was able to read. I begged my grandma to teach me to read before I went to preschool. When I went to the mall, the first place I always wanted to go was the bookstore.

I’m not sure if I have a hoard or a collection. To be fair, I do get rid of books I don’t like, so I don’t hoard them in that way. I really do hoard books ‘to be read’. At home right now, I probably have about 400 books to be read. I can’t stop buying books, but I’m actually a really slow and meticulous reader, so that’s a problem.

 How do you organize your books?

Right now my books are in the trunk of my car and in piles on my guest room and living room floors. I just finished moving them all from California. I have to-be-painted bookshelves in my half-painted living room, but the books haven’t made it there yet.