Po(sey) Sessions

One of the problems of owning a bookstore is being surrounded by books but never having time to read. I am very adamant with the people in my life that they DO have time to read, they just fool themselves into thinking that they don't. Therefore it is my solemn duty to follow my own advice. Hypocrites are so tacky. And/or human (you decide). So I have been trying to read for at least ten minutes 4-5 nights a week before bed. Do you want to know what happened? I actually found more time to read and started reading in other slow moments! Ah, the power of making room to read in your life. My favorite part about reading is sharing authors I love with new people and I have whole new platform for doing that. It is funny how sometimes I get in a great conversation with a customer and they leave and I scold myself remembering that I didn't even bring up Cindy Pon one time. Right now I am obsessed with a new author. Her name is Lindsey Leavitt and I may want to try and ...

I have owned a bookstore for three months. Wait, let me try that again. I have OWNED A BOOKSTORE for three months. Me, an owner. Living my dream for one quarter of a year and let me tell you, it has been amazing. There are hard days and good days and tired days and magical days. But what am I doing now? How am I celebrating bookstore ownership? I am on vacation! I am huddled away in some deep dark hole resting and thinking about every nuance of change that has come in the past few months. Running away like this for the moment is a luxury. I am still in partnership with the previous owner and I can feel a certain sense of confidence in leaving the store in his extremely capable hands. I have been wanting to blog about this experience as a way to share it with others and gain perspective for myself, but there just doesn't seem to be enough time in the day to deal with everything that needs to be dealt and sleep anywhere near enough. This is all, of course, part of what I signed u...

I have owned a bookstore for one month and nine days. It is 10:09 PM and I am in the basement of the store. I wasn't lying when I said this is my home now. Tonight was our first annual Lit Fest! Hopefully I will post more about that later. I can't have another post get high jacked because I have promised you pictures! My pet project! I love children's and young adult books. I have made this section all my own. This picture of the store represents my proudest contribution to the bookstore. Kids and literacy have been a passion of mine for over a decade now. I have been able to explore this passion from all different angles. Now I have a new opportunity.  Sharing books with the youth of my community is one of the greatest gifts I have ever been given. In just a number of weeks since this picture was taken the section has grown and evolved even more. I am realizing now the print I am making on this space and store after I realize how quickly this picture has become out...

I have a new home! Or a home away from home. Braun Books in Cedar City, Utah has stolen my heart. I have been shopping there for over 13 years. And now I am the boss! Things are a little different on this side of the counter, but I have been wanting to own a bookstore for a long time. One of the most surreal feelings you will ever have in your life is living your dream. It comes in two parts, first the dream like not quite real quality your life takes on, but also the sheer sense of panic when you realize you have no idea what you are doing. The panic is easy to deal with. The joy overcomes everything else. I can't help feeling like I am doing what I was meant to do. On the other hand I am doing something that I never had to do before. Selling to people. Talking about books has long been a passion of mine and in the past month I have gotten so many compliments about my passion, but it is hard to not wonder if people think I have an ulterior motive. Probably only a ...

I am facing a day of a work after a sleepless night. This is not the first sleepless night and it won't be the last. I haven't updated my blog in close to four months because I have been living my dream. So many people in life know about the recent changes in my life, and you might already too. There is one thing I can tell you, life your dream is amazing but exhausting. For years my life has been mainly book focused. I am about to take that to a whole new level. About two weeks ago I dove in and bought an independent bookstore in Cedar City, Utah. Over the past 13 years Utah has become my home in a way that the place I was born could never match. And over the past 13 years I have been a customer of the very bookstore I now own. It is surreal and amazing all at the same time. Previous to working in the store for a few months I knew that owning a bookstore was something I always wanted to do, but would probably never be able to accomplish. But buying a bookstore with a built...

Congratulations to  Jamie Krakover ! Jamie just contacted me saying she already won a copy of the book. Amy is our new winner! Jamie  Amy has already been contacted. Thank you to everyone who entered. I hope you get a chance to read Starters soon. If you do, please let me know what you think! I finished the book just the other day and will have my review up soon. Thank you also to Lissa Price for suggesting I do this giveaway in the first place. I really liked hearing what interested each of you about the book!