Get to know your booksellers: An interview with Sandy Scott

Welcome to part one of an interview series with our booksellers! The first under the spotlight is Sandy Scott, which is only fair since, with the exception of Linda, she has been a Galaxy bookseller the longest (11 years) and is also the one who is making everyone complete this interview.

On your nightstand now: John Saturnall's Feast, by Lawrence Norfolk; Mrs. Queen takes the Train, by William Kuhn; The Center of Everything, by Linda Urban; and The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There, by Catherynne M. Valente. What would be more difficult to list are the books around my nightstand, which are numerous and encompass everything from stacks of parenting books, to stacks of ARCs I've brought home with good intentions of reading, to stacks of picture books for my daughter's bedtime storytime.

 

Favorite book when you were a child: This is really tough, but probably Miss Jellytot's Visit may have been the one that I read the most times over the greatest amount of years. It was an ex-library book from the '50s that we must have picked up at some sale, and it was about a little girl who decided to pretend to be a glamorous grown-up visitor in her parents' house for a whole week.

 

Book that changed your life: Another tough one--different books influenced me in different ways--but the book that changed my life as a bookseller was The Shadow of the Wind,which was one of the first books I read as an adult that completely captured my imagination, just as the books I read as a child did. It was also the first book that I rabidly hand-sold to customers, and there was a real thrill in handing people my favorite new book, then having them come back as excited about it as I was.

 

Person who had the biggest influence on your literary life: My grandmother gave me books by some of her favorite authors throughout my childhood, which gave me an appreciation for the witticisms of Oscar Wilde, the Gothic romance of the Bronte's, the intricacies of the casebooks of Sherlock Holmes. She encouraged and fed my love of reading, and I will always treasure the books she gave me.

 

Five books you would want with you on a desert island: The Forager's Harvest, The Lord of the Rings, Jane Eyre, The Oxford Shakespeare: The Complete Works (I've only read a bit of Shakespeare, and this seems like it would be a good time to catch up), The Norton Anthology of Poetry.

 

Biggest literary crush: Mr. Rochester. I can't help it--I know he's a bit of a jerk, but all his glowering and stalking about and audacious declarations of love still make me swoon.

 

Book you can't live without: Probably The Joy of Cooking. I can't remember a recipe more complicated than scrambled eggs, so I always have to check a reliable source for measures, temperatures, and times.

 

Best thing about being a bookseller: I love meeting people, talking with customers and other booksellers about the excitement and pleasure of books. Plus, opening boxes full of new books continues to be a highlight of my job.

Is there anything else you would like us to know about you?

I love a good pun  (or even a mediocre one). I believe that few situations cannot be made better by a good book and a cup of tea.