Confessions of a Catskills Bookstore Owner

By Jen Schwartz, Briars & Brambles Books, Windham

Stop Reading! Perhaps it is strange advice to hear from a bookseller, but it is true. Before I opened Briars & Brambles Books, I felt compelled to finish any book I started, even if I didn’t like the characters, storyline, or writing. I felt I owed it to the author to finish; anything less felt like quitting. Sound familiar? Here’s the good news … in retrospect, I was wrong.

Reading requires the reader and the characters develop a relationship. As a reader, you invest your valuable time, energy, and attention getting to know and care about the characters. (Think: Jude in A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara). Characters and plots elicit a range of reader reaction including: joy, anger, fear, excitement, sorrow, jealousy, admiration, confusion, sympathy, frustration, and relatability. While the characters may be fictionalized, the emotions they produce in the reader are very real! Therefore, reading is not a “simple act.”

Rather, reading is an activity. Reading needs to be prioritized and made time for, just like any good relationship. However, as in real life, not every relationship needs to continue. t can take courage to stop reading a specific book, especially if it is popular. Many of my customers “feel bad” when they don’t like a book that a friend has recommended (admitting you don’t like it can feel similar to saying that you didn’t hit it off with a friend of theirs). As a bookseller, it took me a while to get comfortable tell- ing my customers if I didn’t like a particular book, somehow, I felt like it was a reflection (read: personal failure) of myself. Applying the “reading is a relationship” approach has helped me reframe my perspective and has ultimately made me both a better reader and bookseller.

So, what is my criteria to “end” a relationship with a book? It’s the same as in real life. Ultimately, if I realize that I don’t care about the characters or am indifferent to what happens to them, I give myself permission to put it down. I will always be in awe of anybody who writes a book, but if it is not well written (and to be honest a lot of not very well written books manage to get published annually), then I will put it down. I have had to train myself to understand that choosing to put down a book doesn’t hurt the author’s feelings (they will never know) and it’s not quitting. Rather, I have learned my time is precious.

Bottom line: If I don’t enjoy spending time with the characters and I don’t want to invest any further in the relationship, I’ve learned to walk away, guilt-free. There are plenty of other books and characters that are more “worthy” of my time and energy.

Looking for a good read? Visit Briars & Brambles Books at the corner of Route 296 and South Street in Windham—Jen or another member of her knowledgeable staff will help you pick out your next book.