In this meet the bookseller column we chat with Aurelia Orr, one of our fabulous Readings Kids booksellers! We talk about her time on our Teen Advisory Board, recent favourite reads, and what she'll be reading next.

Why did you decide to work in books?

I decided I wanted to work in books when I first started shopping at Readings Carlton when I was 12 years old. I immediately fell in love with the store. It was like Belle seeing the Beast’s library, or Elizabeth Bennett seeing Pemberley for the first time; it opened my eyes to a world of beauty and wonder that I never wanted to leave. All my pocket money would go on books, and working in the literary field was the only career I knew would bring me joy. In 2021 I was accepted into the Readings Teen Advisory Board where I met authors, editors, cover design artists and more, and first began reviewing books for Readings as part of the program. And then a dream come true: I was hired by Readings Kids at the end of 2021 and I could not be more thankful.

Describe your taste in books

I predominantly read adult fiction and YA. I previously adored fantasy and science fiction, but now I find myself leaning towards more murder mysteries, psychological thrillers and horror. I also love books inspired by Greek mythology, Shakespeare, and those set in a school or university setting – dark academia aesthetic for life!

What’s the best book you’ve read recently? How did it change the way you think?

Oh gosh, there have been too many to name just one. But there are four I read over the last year that still hold a special place in my heart:

Animal by Lisa Taddeo remains one of my favorite books ever. Every sentence was like a bullet to the chest. The storyline so raw and brutal, exploring the perspective of the 'other woman', and how some women have come to rely on sex for survival, acceptance, and their only source of affection.

Faithless by Alice Nelson was a stunning novel that scared me with how much it seemed to peer into my soul and understand every complex emotion I’d ever felt, and it reassured me I wasn’t alone in my moments of confusion or anxiety.

I wrote in a small review earlier this year that reading Cleopatra and Frankenstein by Coco Mellors was like falling in love for the first time: you’re so blinded by the glamour and rose-coloured view of the world before you, you never expect the heartbreak to follow. In her debut, Mellors intricately and elegantly details the beautiful and ugly sides to humans, the joy and the aching loneliness. It was one of the most memorable books where the characters are never as two-dimensional as they first appear to be.

And lastly, Motherthing by Ainslie Hogarth was one of my most recent reads but definitely ended the year with a bang. I immediately leap for any books about the complex relationship between mothers and daughters: the yearning to be loved by them and the fear of becoming like them. There is no easier way of clarifying it, it just simply is. Hogarth’s brilliant, spine-chilling novel has tattooed itself in my brain, and I never want the ink to dry.

What books are sitting on your bedside table now?

• The Soulmate by Sally Hepworth

• Ithaca by Claire North

• Maggie by Catherine Johns

• The Ophelia Girls by Jane Healey