On Thursday I woke up and found out that an old entry of mine had caught the eye of someone else’s Tumblr blog.  I had joined with several other booksellers to create this hodgepodge list shortly before I quit my job.  I then spent a languorous seven months away from independent bookstores, author events, and shelving.  I still saw book people every so often, but I had lost my label and was happy to do so.  

I moved away, and after a few months of putzing around my new city, I answered an advertisement seeking a children’s bookseller.  I got the job that same Thursday, and something clicked into place.  Customers can be assholes, children rip apart books, and the things left behind on bookshelves are disgusting, but I miss bookselling.  The customers who are lovely, the conversations about books that emerge at unlikely moments, and the books themselves are what make me want to go back and do it all over again.