Bookselling as a Superpower

“You know, I saw you in the paper years ago when you first opened. When I saw you were Latino, I told myself you probably wouldn’t make it. I’m glad to see you’re still here.”

I chuckled a little and told him it’s a super power I have, “...I have a section for you too, right up front. Chicano/Latino literature and a bookcase of books in Spanish. We’re about 4 and a half years and going strong, check us out!”

I finished drinking my beer and smiled. It’s amazing what can happen when people feel permission to say the quiet things out loud.

I’m mingling at a collaborative bookstore and brewery event. This one is an annual Blind Date with a Book. We wrap 30-40 books in brown paper and write a brief quote or description on them to give some hint as to the story inside. Patrons can enjoy a beer as they browse and consider purchasing their next read.

This specific moment came about halfway through the event. The older Mexican gentleman was sitting behind me with a few friends. Coming back from grabbing his second beer, he paused and asked what was going on.

After a little context, and me leaning into his observation, his entire demeanor changed.

It was as if the minute I leaned into being the first one born in the US and being raised speaking Spanish, he knew he could speak freely.

His back went a little straighter and he gave a quick life story about how his parents were the first born in this country and how moving to this country gave him the opportunity to do better in life than his parents. Not only that, but the hope that his children and grandchildren will continue to do better than he has.

When I told him being Mexicano (Latino/Chicano/Latinx/Brown) was a super power I meant it. However, as the night progressed, I started seeing the bookselling profession as its own superpower.

“Hey man! I’ve been having some drinks with coworkers and kept seeing you talking to people over here, what’s going on!?”

“It’s a blind date with a book, you get to pick a pick without knowing the author or title or cover, just a quote from the book. Read anything good recently?”

Wearing a checkered button up and block black blazer with black framed glasses, he looked over, “Man... I’ve mostly been reading books for school, but I got back into Stephen King recently and halfway through IT. Do you have any horror in the mix?”

“Stephen King is one way to hop back in, his books are thick. I just finished reading 11/22/63 myself. If you like time travel and the idea of trying to fix the past you’d love it. But, it’s not so much horror. However, I do have a couple of options over here.”

After several minutes, he purchased two mystery horror novels and mystery thriller for a friend.

Mission accomplished.

Minutes later an older gentleman and his wife came up to the table. This couple happened to be bookstore regulars and avid readers. After a few rounds of back forth talking sci-fi, his wife laughs, “All he does is read, you’re not going to find many sci-fi books he hasn’t read.”

Simultaneously, a brewery patron was talking about Fahrenheit 451, I managed to connect the older gentleman and the younger patron to talk about dystopian sci-fi while I snuck away for another pint.

Booksellers are in this unique situation where we wear so many hats at once, but all appearing to be the same hat.

Roughly 70,000 new titles are published every Tuesday (literally), with tens of thousands released in the U.S. alone.

As booksellers the odds are stacked against us. We don’t have the mental capacity to store the information of all books and all authors throughout existence in our heads.

What we do have is something rarer: the privilege of engaging with people at an almost raw level.

Sharing what we read and what we’re looking for to a stranger is a vulnerable position.

As book sellers we must treat this position with care and grace. We’ve been entrusted to suggest the best possible story specific to the individual and often with little to no context.

In discussing the bookstore itself, a man owned and talked about his family being from Mexico with pride.

A stranger revealed that he was a recent graduate getting back into the horror stories he loved, simultaneously buying a book for a friend in good nature.

The gals behind the counter confessed to how much they get excited for their romantasy picks, then decided to invest in one more book to add to their collection through the event.

Bookselling is a superpower, an opportunity to see into the most beautiful parts of humanity in all forms.

In selling books, I try to mirror the effort given. If you’re willing to share with me, I’ll gladly share something with you. In that connection maybe we can add a little more fun and compassion and value to life.