A few months ago, like Octoberish, when living in the great city of Austin, I got bored at work and decided to call the BookPeople staff to see what they were reading, because I thought it might go well with this blog. They were very helpful and did a little internal survey and gave me a list. Then I forgot to post the information. Then I found the list again, just now. So, here's what the BookPeople staff was reading back in October, according to my files:
Pride and Prejudice
A Million Little Pieces by James Frey (which they described back then as "nonfiction about rehab")
Truman Capote's lost book Summer Crossing
Amy Tan's Saving Fish from Drowning
Martha McCabe Praise at Midnight
Hey, I'm going to call right now to get an updated list.
Someone named Megan answered the phone. She says she's reading David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest, but not Consider the Lobster. One of her female coworkers is reading Lolita. Okay now she's giving the phone to another bookseller. He sounds really feminine and claims to be reading Shine by Star Jones. "We have lots of copies," he says with a chuckle.
Two other books being read by the employees over in Texas's largest indie bookstore, according to the feminine male bookseller: Meat Market by Erik Marcus and Dog Days by Ana Marie Cox.
That was investigative journalism at its best, folks.
-Matt Borondy