Interview with a Bookseller: Emily
Who are you? What do you do at the store?
I’m the event coordinator at Dog-Eared, which means I serve as party planner, author wrangler, (sometimes) graphic generator, calendar keeper, cocktail mixer, and more. I wear many hats. Literal hats as well…ask a bookseller about my beret. They’ll know what you mean.
Emily reading instead of unpacking her new apartment last summer.
What genres do you read?
I most often read fantasy and sci-fi. In the last year, alien and space books have really snuck up on me. They were some of my most memorable reads, and I read a lot of them through no effort of my own. They were just what jumped off the shelf when I walked by. That said, I like to mix it up with lit fic, poetry (I just finished The World Keeps Ending, and the World Goes On by Franny Choi), nonfiction, and graphic novels between my regular reads. Variety is the spice of life!
What is your favorite book?
Right now, it’s probably The Moonday Letters and The History of Love. I’ve talked about one of these the blog before—extolling the virtues of The Moonday Letters here. The Moonday Letters is so atmospheric that I sometimes look up from my day and realize it’s my current emotion. The History of Love had me laughing and crying with its charm, and its characters are still kicking around in my heart. Both experiment with form.
What is a book that changed or affected you the most?
Two works that moved me on a level I have trouble articulating are The Radiant Lives of Animals by Linda Hogan and the short story “The Great Silence” by Ted Chiang. They opened up my world and gave me new ways to relate to it, made it larger while emotionally engaging me. They called on me to be more sensitive, to connect with what’s around me right now. My Year of Meats by Ruth Ozeki raised my awareness in other ways and generally knocked my socks off with its ambition and the way it folds ancient poems into modern prose. Reading that book was such a cool experience.
What’s a book that helped you get out of a book slump?
Usually a book with a fantastic world or a captivating voice can pull me out of a book slump.
What’s a book that you read at the exact right time?
Most recently maybe Truth of the Divine (the sequel to Axiom’s End). It’s surprisingly emotionally difficult in light of the book that preceded it but asks questions that are relevant to our cultural moment in an engaging way. It made me feel a little less alone.
Are there any books you own several copies of? Why?
Before I worked at a bookstore, my friends knew books were no-brainer gifts for me on birthdays and holidays. Now that I work at Dog-Eared, I’ve ruined that tradition because it’s almost impossible for them to buy me a book I don’t already have. I own multiple copies of The Unofficial Studio Ghibli Cookbook, The Count of Monte Cristo, and The Dragon’s Promise because they know my taste well. They grab books I’d definitely grab for myself…and sometimes already have! As for Vespertine, I just liked one of the special covers enough to grab another edition.
What is your earliest book memory?
I remember smiling because of Daisy-Head Mayzie and feeling somber during The Good Stepmother (a book I loved so much my mother tracked an old library copy down for me as a gift when I became an adult), which were probably formative kids' books for me. My mom has always loved books, and she read to me a lot as a kid. I remember lying in what, at the time, seemed like her absolutely GIANT bed reading Where the Red Fern Grows together. By the end of the book, we were both sobbing.
What is your favorite place to read?
Probably bed. Sometimes my couch so that rain sounds and soft light can join me through the big window nearby. The most important thing is that my reading spot is comfy.
Show us your bookshelf! How do you organize it? What are the vibes?
We have a series of book nooks—groupings of shelves in different rooms. Several shelves house their own genre. For example, I have a poetry and lit fic shelf in my office next to a shelf of journals and sketchbooks. By those is a fantasy and favorites shelf. My highest priority TBR books sit on top of that. In another room, there’s an ancient world shelf with fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and textbooks on or inspired by ancient cultures. We even have a shelf just for short books, haha! I guess you can tell I’m not a minimalist. I don’t alphabetize, but I do make sure books by the same author huddle together.
What advice would you give readers? Non-readers?
Enjoy.
One of Emily’s several book nooks.
Tell us a controversial book opinion
It can feel great to read a book that has exactly the tropes and dynamics you’re looking for, but it can also be really rewarding to go into a book without expectations. I don’t think it’s fair to judge a book based on what you want it to be rather than on what it wants to be and how well it achieves that. Be nice on Goodreads, y’all.
Why do you read?
It depends on my mood and the book. Sometimes I read to learn. Sometimes I read for comfort or to connect—whether or I'm reading a book to talk about it with a friend or not, I feel less lonely when I read. Sometimes I read because I'm so excited about the next page that I can't help reading more. I think all of these reasons are important. Books are companions for many phases of life. They make the world bigger and give us doorways to access what might seem too foreign or disconnected from us otherwise. Stepping through that door is a step toward practicing empathy...so I think it's good to read lots of different kinds of things for many different reasons. Step through lots of doors!
What do you love about bookselling? About our store?
Being surrounded by books and people who love them is kind of a dream. Even just looking at our building, you can tell the people here have put a lot of care into it, and they try to give each other a similar level of care. Whether it’s finding their next great read, starting a new book club, or pitching a fun event, the store encourages people to follow their passions and grow. It makes working here a pleasure, and I love seeing people’s creativity come alive.
