James Butler works as a bookseller at our Hawthorn shop. Here we chat with them about how they ended up working in bookshops, and what’s an Australian book everyone should read.

Why did you decide to work in books?

I began working in an independent bookshop when I first started studying creative writing and English literature at university. It felt like work that was the perfect extension of my studies and just another place to be excited about writing and…

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In our latest Meet the Bookseller post, we chat to Readings Carlton bookseller and customer service extraordinaire Dave Little about how he came to work in books, what books have made an impact on him, and what he’s looking to read next.

Why did you decide to work in books?

I started working at an independent bookstore in Brisbane soon after I studied literature at uni. I didn’t intend to stick around for too long but came to really love…

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Margaret Snowdon is a bookseller and the immensely knowledgeable art & design book buyer with the very good eye at Readings Carlton.

Here, she chats about her favourite parts of her job working on the floor, the books that made an impact on her growing up, and how she came to work in the book industry.

Why did you decide to work in books?

It just happened. I was at a loose end after I finished school and an…

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Sam Kelly is a bookseller at Readings Doncaster and the spark that drives the Doncaster middle fiction book club. Here, she chats about the favourite parts of her job, books that have changed the way she thinks, and what’s on her reading pile right now.

Sam also runs the website Retrieve-a-Book, where she posts young adult and middle-fiction book news, reviews and recommendations.

What is your favourite part of your job?

Definitely the people, both customers and colleagues. You…

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Freya Howarth is a bookseller at our St Kilda store. Here, she chats to us about the best parts of her job, talks about books that have changed the way she thinks, and why bookshops should always just be a little bit haunted.

Tell us about a book that changed the way you think.

His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman. I’m not sure if it’s quite right to say it changed the way I think, so much as formed it…

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Fiona Hardy is a woman of many talents: bookseller, Readings Monthly‘s crime fiction columnist, co-host of the Readings podcast episodes Good Cop, Bad Cop and the soon-to-be published author of the eagerly anticipated middle-grade novel How to Make a Movie in Twelve Days, (available September). In what little spare time she has, she also blogs about children’s books at Fiona The Hardy.

Here she shares some of her biggest literary influences and some hilarious candid memories from…

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Kathy Kozlowski is a children’s book specialist who has worked in children’s literature for more than 40 years. Here, she shares the changes she’s witnessed in the book industry and which authors she’d invite to a dinner party.

Why did you decide to work in books and what is your favourite part of the job?

It was a light bulb moment during university when I realised that if I worked with children’s books I could forever be in the land…

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Amanda Rayner is a bookseller and returns officer at our Carlton bookshop. Here, she shares what books are on her TBR pile, her most formative read and which fictional world she’d choose to be trapped in.

What is your favourite part of your job?

I love working in an industry where your knowledge expands every day, but there is always more to learn. I’ve met some of my closest friends while working in books; not surprisingly, it’s a good place…

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Claire Atherfold is the Children’s Book Buyer at our newly renovated State Library bookshop. Here, she shares what books are on her TBR pile, and which authors she would invite to a dinner party.

Why did you decide to work in books?

Books have always been a large part of my life. From a very early age I have memories of my mum reading to me, and of totally getting lost in the tales and adventures, placing myself in the…

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Mike Shuttleworth has worked as a bookseller at our Hawthorn shop for close to four years but he’s been an advocate for youth literature for far longer – organising events and writing about youth literature since 2002! We chat with him about literary trends, weird bookshop queries, and which book he would choose to be trapped inside of.

Why did you decide to work in books?

I went to university to study journalism and fell down a rabbit hole called…

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