Our bookstore buddies: Kathleen Möschke

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Bookseller interview

Our bookstore buddy Kathleen Möschke from Buchhandlung Micklich in Strausberg already dreamed of working with books as a young girl. Today she lives her dream job.

Kathleen Möschke neben aktuellen norwegischen Werken. Foto: Privat

Dear Ms. Möschke, why did you choose to run a bookshop?

I was only thirteen, maybe fourteen years old when the idea of this wonderful line of work got into my head. While the main reason was that I simply adored reading, it would obviously be nice to spend every day dealing with books and helping people find books that would make them happy and excited about reading. It is surely one of the most brilliant things about this job that you can meet up with people who you realise are just as fond of reading as you are yourself.

Please describe the final few meters of the route you take in the mornings to your bookshop.

Because my route to work is quite short, I’m lucky enough to be able to run all the way. I often fit in some shopping for myself first and also stock up with drinks for my day in the bookshop. When I’ve dealt with everything I need in the local supermarket, I have only a few metres left to go before reaching the bookshop. Then, as I unlock the door to the shop, I’m looking forward so much to the day. Hopefully, it will once more bring many wonderful discoveries among the newly delivered books. And they surely please many of our customers, too.

Throughout the day ...When the shop-door opens and someone steps inside...

I’m excited to find out about what just that person might be want to buy. The idea is to leave them to browse and become inspired by what they find but, if they have use for me, I’ll be right there at their side and ready help out in every way. I also like observing customers without being seen, taking note of what they seem interested in, what they then pick up. Just by knowing that kind of thing, one learns to a lot about many visitors to the shop and about their needs and wishes. Then I hope to be truly able to do something for them so that they feel good about coming back to us and like buying their books in just our shop. We do have a very large crowd of regular customers who always come back to us, often just for a chat. We have got to know each other well over the years that I have so far spent in our lovely little bookshop. And that is so cheering.

What is the wonderful thing that happens when we read?

Reading is really crazy and wonderful thing to do because it makes you dive into other lives and get to know other people, whether part of a fiction or real persons. Their lives intertwine with readers to such an extent that they enrich us with experiences, enthusiasm about life and, often, simply happiness. When you are reading, you are on your own but utterly content and untroubled. That, I feel, is especially nice.

Many say they don’t have the time to read. What can they do about that?

It is always possible to set time aside to read if one gives books the priority that they truly deserve. It is just a matter of doing it. Don‘t assume that all sorts of other things are more important. If you do then you are sure to fail!

Has a Norwegian book given you a reading experience that you remember with pleasure?

Yes, I have read the books by Maja Lunde with great pleasure. The first volume was The History of Bees (trnsl. by Diane Oatley. Scribner (UK)/Simon & Schuster (USA) 2018)and the second one The End of the Ocean (will be published in October 2019).Both really fascinated me so, by now, I’m excitedly waiting for two remaining book in the quartet. They all concern our environment, and also teach the reader as well as make you think again about environmental issues. I love her books for young people, too: I thought the one called Battle was really exciting.

From the German by Anna Paterson.

Visit the the webside of Buchhandlung Micklich here.

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