We chat with bookseller

Why do you work in books?

I have always loved books, and was desperate to go to school and learn to read. My parents were journalists and I grew up in a house filled with books, newspapers and magazines. If I didn’t work in a bookshop, I would still spend a lot of time (and money) in bookshops. Maybe it’s something to do with being born in the same year that Readings began?!

Best book you’ve read lately?

I just read The Death of Bees by Lisa O’Donnell, which won the Commonwealth Writers Prize. It’s about two sisters who are struggling to survive trauma and poverty. It’s tragic yet funny, and utterly real and compelling. One of the sisters is a quirky Aspergers-ish type, and the older sister struggles to protect her younger sibling, hide a terrible secret and continue her regular teenage life. It’s an amazing debut novel. I put off reading the last 30 pages for two days because I didn’t want to part company with the characters.

Name a book that has changed the way you think.

All of Alice Munro’s books have shown me how the small details of life and relationships matter. Munro is such a beautiful writer, and her stories illuminate those moments that can change a life. I truly wish I could meet her.

What’s your favourite book and why?

It It would have to be Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout. It’s a perfect character study of a retired school teacher in a small coastal town in Maine. I admire the way Olive is shown through interlinked stories, and her strengths and flaws are given equal weight. It’s also the kind of book that demonstrates how life shapes us, and how profound another person’s influence on us can be. I’m so looking forward to reading Strout’s new book, The Burgess Boys.

What book did you love as a kid?

When I was young I loved Richard Scarry’s books, particularly The Best Storybook Ever. If I couldn’t sleep I’d hop out of bed and look through the illustrations. When I was older I loved Enid Blyton’s boarding school series – Malory Towers and St Clare’s.

What’s the strangest experience you’ve had in a bookshop?

One Saturday morning, bleary-eyed and caffeine-deprived, a customer pointed his finger at me. ‘You look like someone,’ he said. ‘I’ve got it! I know who it is!’ He told me I was a dead ringer for … Margie Abbott. After telling my husband this, he now takes great pleasure, when seeing Margie on TV, at shouting ‘Quick, look … It’s your doppelganger …’