Today we would like to introduce you to our lovely Berlin based bookstore buddy Sabine Kahl, owner of the Schmargendorfer Buchhandlung.
Dear Sabine, why did you choose to run a bookshop?
There was nothing I liked better than reading – simply reading. Early on, I figured that when I married and had lots of children I could still remain in ‘my’ profession as bookseller and carry on reading to stay up to date (though the bit about children has sadly not worked out ...).
Please describe the final few meters of the route you take in the mornings to your bookshop.
When I turn the corner into the narrow side street that runs past the back of my bookshop and where I can park my car, my little dog who very much enjoys his day in the bookshop always starts shuffling about excitedly in his travel basket. And I feel just the same when I see the rear shop-window that faces the parking lot and then walk across to open the door. Then I stop to inhale that day’s first gulp of air full of the smell of books.
Throughout the day ...When the shop-door opens and someone steps inside...
… I’m so pleased. It doesn’t matter whatever is the reason why the person enters my shop. It could be that he or she has a definite goal in mind or just wants to pass the time – everyone is welcome. My bookshop is a place for contentment and self-gratification and I and my staff will do all we can to look after our customers.
What is the wonderful thing that happens when we read?
Your personal imagination directs a film inside your head based on the narrative in the book you are reading. Your own memories will be awakened, you might be reminded of other things you have read or want to follow up the idea of the writer. Or you might come to understand your own action better – in short, every aspect of your mind will be on the alert.
Many say they don’t have the time to read. What can they do about that?
Read everywhere. On public transport, when you take bath, in the mornings at breakfast and in the evenings in bed – resort to audio books when going out for a walk or vacuuming the floors and sitting in a plane. Just see to it that you have access to the right medium to suit your taste – as a printed book or in digitised form on an e-reader or as an audio book on your smartphone. And then just decide in favour of reading and exclude all other activities.
Has a Norwegian book given you a reading experience that you remember with pleasure?
Oh yes, once I was a professional reader for the Ullstein Verlag and my colleague in that particular programme brought me a manuscript by Jo Nesbø and said: here, read this. Harry Hole, that thoughtful but in other ways troubled character has fascinated me ever since. What finally caught my attention was when I observed the arc of tension that Nesbø created. And then, just before the end of the story, he introduces a completely unexpected twist. Since then I read every new book by Nesbø!
From the German by Anna Paterson.
Visit the the webside of Schmargendorfer Buchhandlung hier.
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