Happy Monday! We’re excited to introduce Ava Tusek, a bookseller at Second Star to the Right Books in Denver, Colorado.
How did you get into bookselling?
When I was 16 I started a bookstagram account, needing something to do with my summer, but I quickly fell in love with the online community of book-lovers. Turns out, there are whole stores full of people who love books just as much as I do, and when I found out about a bookstore that specialized in kidlit (my favorite!) near my school, I had to go in and check it out! I walked out with two books and a job application after chatting with the (amazing) manager.
What do you love most about being a bookseller?
I love when a customer comes in saying, “I’m just looking,” but after chatting with them, I find myself thinking of a bunch of books I know they’d enjoy. It’s so satisfying to give someone a handful of amazing options and then let them choose the perfect book to take home!
What do you love most about your bookstore?
The color! Nothing about kidlit is uniform, and it really shows in the creativity of the spines and covers. And the owners of Second Star made sure to make the space as welcoming and friendly as possible, so I’m surrounded by blue, yellow, and purple walls, rainbow makers, and painted stairs!
What are you listening to right now?
Frankly in Love by David Yoon; it’s made me an emotional wreck, but I’ve loved every minute of it!
What audiobooks would you recommend or are among your favorites?
Letters to the Lost by Brigid Kemmerer was so beautiful (and tragic). The narrator really gave that book the space to be as profound as it needed to be while still being compelling enough to make listeners really invested. A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab is also stunning – it’s so easy to get lost in the world, between Schwab’s immersive prose and the narrator’s daydream-inducing voice!
Where / when do you listen to audiobooks?
Usually in the car – I hate driving, so I love that audiobooks can transport me to somewhere else entirely!
What is your favorite thing about audiobooks through Libro.fm?
Supporting indie bookstores has become something I’m really passionate about (I am 200 days Amazon-free!), so I love that I have the option to support my favorite bookstores (and booksellers!) without even needing to leave my house.
What do you do when you’re not selling books?
Read books! Listen to books! Review books! My life is booked by books.