I'm joined in this episode by Gemma who's a bookseller at Mr B's Emporium of Reading Delights (https://mrbsemporium.com/) , an independent bookshop in Bath here in the UK. We discuss the reading spas which Mr B's is famous for, how to balance selling 'commercial' books with more literary ones, how working as a bookseller has changed Gemma's own reading habits and more!
Books mentioned in this episode:
Still Life by Sarah Winman
To Paradise by Hanya Yanagihara
Open Water by Caleb Azumah Nelson
Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth
Doggerland by Ben Smith
We Are Completely Besides Ourselves by Karen Fowler Joy
Islands of Abandonment: Nature Rebounding in the Post-Human Landscape by Cal Flyn
Naturalia: Reclaimed by Nature by Jonathan Jimenez
The Mermaid of Black Conch by Monique Roffey
The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
Pandora's Jar: Women in the Greek Myth by Natalie Haynes
The Children of Jocasta by Natalie Haynes
Circe by Madeline Miller
Ariadne by Jennifer Saint
Pandora by Susan Stokes-Chapman
The Storytellers by Mark Rubinstein
Mythos by Stephen Fry
The Power by Naomi Alderman
America and the Cult of the Cactus Boots: A Diagnostic by Phillip Freedenberg, illustrated by Jeff Walton
Shout-outs as to the various indie bookshops, put forward by the following listeners:
Pegasus Book Exchange in Seattle, Washington (@pegasusbookexhange), nominated by Ryan (@defryereads)
Little Shop of Heroes in Dunfermline, Fife (@littleshopofheroes), nominated by Gemma (@gemmawithabook)
Scarthin Books in Cromford, Derbyshire (@scarthinbooks) and Rhyme & Reason in Sheffield, South Yorkshire (https://rhymeandreasonbooks.wordpress.com/, nominated by Marika (@mybookcorner)
Arcadia Books in Spring Green, Wisconsin (@arcadiabooks), nominated by Steve (@fullbeardlit51_15)
Gibson's Bookstore in Concord, New Hampshire (@gibsonsbookstorenh), nominated by Andrew Merritt (@metafictionameathead)
Burley Fisher Books in London (@burleyfisher) nominated by Zoe (@jenniferqueenie)
Music by Tom Caruana: https://tomcaruana-teasea.bandcamp.com/
Chatting Lit logo and artwork by Emma Morris (@emmamorrisdesign)