What's your problem?

Okay, I haven't posted in six months, so I think it's reasonable to ask, "What's your problem?"  Readers of my last post will recall that I started a new job in January.  I'm a full-time independent bookseller.  Well, more than full-time.  I'm regularly working six and occasionally even seven days a week.  Naturally, there was a period of adjustment.  I haven't worked retail in decades.  I haven't stood for 8-9 hours a day for decades.  And, of course, there was a learning curve, as this is my first bookstore experience. 

Happily, I was well-trained by my generous employers and co-workers.  And, let's face it--I bring a little industry knowledge to the job.  So, the transition was fast-tracked and not too stressful.  Still, I don't have the free time I once had.  The store is open long hours, so I work days, nights, weekends, whatever.  Thank goodness I love my work!  (Was there really any doubt?)  I get to hang out and talk about books all day!

Readers are also aware that I read, shall we say, more than the average citizen.  I figured last year's 225 books would never be equaled.  I was right.  We're a smidge less than half-way through the year, and I passed the 150 book mark this week.  And in case you're wondering, no, I don't ever read at the store.  Television, however, is a thing of the past.  One of the things I discovered was how much reading time I lost writing all those darn book reviews.  They never came easily.  It wasn't uncommon to work two or three hours on one.  Not to mention the blog posting.  Time-consuming!  Apparently, I can read a good chunk of another book in the time it took to sweat out a detailed book review and post it.  And reading all the books in the store is so helpful with work. 

Obviously, I'll never read them all, but I make a fairly impressive dent in the high-profile releases weekly.  I am NOT a speed reader, but I do read a bit faster than average.  More to the point, I'm good at multi-tasking, i.e. reading while: commuting, grocery shopping, getting a pedicure, laundry, cooking dinner, etc.  Also, I've got stamina.  If you have, say, 16 hours on your day off, you can finish three not-excessively-long novels.  Trust me, you can.

Of course, I haven't given up reviewing entirely.  Now instead of creating free content for the increasingly Evil Empire (Amazon), I write brief shelf-talkers for the bookstore.  Brevity does not come naturally!  Each review is a about a paragraph long.  It occurs to me that there's no reason why I shouldn't share these shorter reviews here in batches, along with the occasional longer piece, video I still shoot, and other random cool bookish stuff.  It's really sad...  I spend almost every waking moment in a bookstore.  When I have time off, what do I do?  Visit other bookstores.

Oh, and sometimes I travel to bookish events.  Back in May, I attended the Nebula Awards Weekend, and I'm off to Thrillerfest in New York for the ninth year running.  Oy.  So, I guess what I'm saying is, stay tuned.  I took a break, but I'm going to try to do better.

Is anyone still out there?  Please feel free to say "hi" in the comments. 

Thanks!

Susan