the bookseller

La libraire is bookseller in French. I chose the French word because I am working at a French bookstore (librairie) in Paris and because things in French usually sound prettier than in English. I was hired by la librairie to run their children's books department which carries lots of books in English.

Having always been bookish (livresque) and English speaking, the job seemed a natural fit. What I have come to discover is that although I know books (livres), I was unaware of all the different people who come to buy them. A book is a predictable thing, a front and back cover and pages with words telling a story from beginning to end. People however come in all kinds of packaging with the most unpredictable, astonishing stories of whom I encounter only the abbridged versions.

So this blog is dedicated to the people I sell books to - people who make my life as a libraire possible and sometimes impossible.