I confess. All my life, I have struggled with how to organize the books on my shelf. Even as a child, I spent hours staring at the shelves, puzzling over the best way to sort them. Do I ignore classifications, jumbling novels with atlases, and alphabetize by author? As an adult I wondered, would the … Continue reading Confessions of a former bookseller
Last holiday season, when I worked at the Barnes & Noble in Minnesota, a clean-cut 30-something man, about my age, approached me at the information desk. His short, sandy hair was neatly trimmed, his face freshly shaved, and he wore a grass-green long-sleeved polo, tucked into khaki chinos. He stepped up to the counter where … Continue reading Lost Balls
I quit my job. I lasted, what, six weeks? My heart just wasn’t in it anymore. And I can’t tell you how thrilled I am for that. My first nine years at home were rocky ones. Motherhood did not come as naturally to me as I thought it would when I was pregnant with our … Continue reading I quit my job
A customer came into Barnes & Noble today, Halloween. She looked awkward and bookish, a 20-something woman with dyed black hair in pig tails and barrettes like a six-year old girl, white knee high tube socks with red stripes at the top, and tape on her glasses. She came to the register and was practically … Continue reading Bookish
It was 80 degrees yesterday, and you know how retail stores are. If it’s warmer than 75 degrees out, you can bet you’ll be shivering inside. I was fine until I ate lunch, when all my warm, cozy blood went to my stomach to participate in the digestive party and left the rest of my … Continue reading Staying in my sunbeam
Well, here it is, 6 am and I’m at my writing practice. I’m on my second cup of coffee and am nursing paper cuts from book jackets. I wonder who I’ll shelve today? I hope I get the fiction section. I feel like I’m among friends there. I started a new book last night, The … Continue reading In a bay window
Butterfly Mind 