Meet the Team: Sarah

What's your full name?

Sarah Dennis

How long have you worked at Mostly Books?

I started working in the shop in January, legally took ownership at the end of May and was handed the keys to the shop in an official ceremony on 24^th June.

What's your favourite genre of books and why?

I like a bit of everything, ranging from crime fiction to autobiographies.  I really enjoy books that make me think and those that introduce me to places or information that I haven’t previously encountered.

Name your favourite book.

I’m going to have to stick with the common theme from all of the team – it’s impossible to choose just one!   I absolutely love Khaled Hosseini’s books; The Kite Runner is most well known but A Thousand Splendid Suns and And the Mountains Echoed are brilliant as well.  

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is a phenomenal piece of literature and has the ability to transport the reader to an entirely different place and time.  Michael J. Fox’s autobiography - Lucky Man: A Memoir moved me to tears; although it has been years since I read it, his strength of character still resonates.  When I’m looking for something lighter, I’m a huge fan of crime fiction with Lee Child and John Grisham being two authors that I regularly go back to.

What's your favourite thing about working at Mostly Books?

Absolutely everything!  I have spent a lot of my career working in offices so having the freedom to run my own my business in such gorgeous surroundings is a complete privilege.  Every day I learn more about the book trade and how to keep the business running smoothly.  I’m lucky to have a great team to work with who make each day so much fun and it’s lovely to chat to all of our customers, both regulars and visitors alike.  The best part is that I get to be surrounded by books all day, every day.  It’s an absolute dream come true and I can’t quite believe that this is my job!

What are your main responsibilities at Mostly Books?

In addition to recommending and selling books to our customers, I spend a lot of my time on back office activities.  I make the final choice on stock selection and am responsible for maintaining relationships with publisher reps and wholesalers.  I largely manage the events that we run (although the team are becoming more involved as time progresses) and liaise with the publishers to secure authors for those events.   All aspects of running the business are my responsibility including finance (e.g. invoices, staff payments etc), system maintenance and writing the weekly newsletter.  No two days are the same and it’s up to me to make sure that everything works!

 

What upcoming books are you most excited about?

This is going to Hurt by Adam Kay is going to be amazing.  I’ve had a sneak preview and can highly recommend it - I can’t wait to hear people’s reactions to it.  The new Dan Brown, Origin, should be a fun Christmas read too.

What do you like to do in your free time?

I don’t have a lot of free time at the moment but, when I do have a minute to myself, I try to keep fit by running, swimming and doing yoga.  I’m a massive foodie and love eating out as well as enjoying delicious food at home.  I love going to the cinema and enjoy any type of live event, be it a music concert, sports event or theatre.   

Tell us something that the Mostly Books customers don't know about you.

I’m a huge fan of travel and really enjoy exploring different parts of the world.  I have been lucky enough to do two extended backpacking trips, one when I first left University where I explored India and South East Asia and, more recently, when I went across to South America and continued my exploration of Asia.  The second trip took place during 2014 / 15 and I blogged throughout the travels.  If you’re interested in reading about it, my blog can be found here. 

Thanks Sarah, it's been good to chat!

Sarah is usually in the shop on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday & Saturday.

Well, that was embarrassing

It was a genuine mistake. Honestly. I was vaguely aware that it was out this week. But our delivery didn't turn up yesterday, and what with our upcoming event with Alan Titchmarsh a week Friday, and a few other events that we are putting into place I must admit I lost track... So when someone came in this morning at about 10am keen to have a look at the latest Dan Brown, there were a few seconds of embarrassed silence behind the counter. "Ah. Dan Brown. Yes. I think we're expecting it this morning..." This wasn't some independent bookselling act of militancy BTW. Just a bit of a screw-up... Anyhoo, apart from that and not having a single copy of Pride & Prejudice in the shop this morning ("call yourself a bookshop?)" we feel firmly back in the saddle after our almost two-week break once we'd waved Griff off back in the middle of August. Since our return it's been Ch*stm*s planning and ordering, catching up with all the news from our customers, playing admin catch-up and feverishly putting our Autumn schedule together ready for our next newsletter - which might be out as early as next week (with a following wind). Ooh, loads of events which are *almost* finalised and we're bursting to tell you about...but it'll have to wait (aside from Alan of course - did I mention him?) Anyway - what's been happening to us over the last few weeks? Well, we've been a bit remiss in keeping up with the wider bookselling world (see start of post) but I feel particularly bad that the opening of a new independent went by without a comment from us. Not just any old bookshop, of course, but the new Edinburgh Bookshop opened by bookselling supremos Vanessa and Malcolm - doubling their bookselling empire. Go take a look at the photos of the new shop because it is gorgeous. And are those some Persephone books I see in that bottom photo? I think so... The independent world needs good news like this because I was really shocked to discover that Crockatt & Powell closed their doors sadly over the Summer. I knew that were under the cosh a little following their expansion into Chelsea - but even so, I was really shocked by the news. I can't think of anything more traumatic than having to close your shop. Matthew and Adam were the punk rockers of indie bookselling, often controversial, never dull. They have helped us out over the years with a tonne of useful advice. I'll miss their blog, and Lower Marsh must be a quieter, sadder place if you are a booklover. Hurry back soon chaps...