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After recovering from a battle with breast cancer,
novelist Suzanne Strempek Shea needed something to get her back into the world —
preferably something not too serious or demanding, perhaps even fun. So when a friend,
the owner of Edwards Books in nearby Springfield, Massachusetts, asked if Suzanne knew
anyone looking for a bookstore job, Shea jumped at the chance. It’s a good thing she did
— for her and her readers. She went on to have a great time learning what it’s like to
sell books as well as write them, and we readers now have her delightful perspective on
the world of books and bookstores.
Shea worked several days a week at
Edwards Books and gives us a fascinating inside look at the people she works with, as
well as the store’s regular and occasional customers. She glides from humorous
observations about sappy greeting cards to serious treatment of 9-11 books with grace and
care. The book is also full of enjoyable insight into the Western Massachusetts literary
scene and the hundreds of books Shea handled during her bookstore
duties.
Shelf Life is, above all else, a love letter to books, book
sellers, book buyers, and book readers. Shea accents her insider’s tale of Edwards Books
with accounts of her lifelong dedication to the written word and the way it is packaged
into books and bookstores. In a world dominated by superstore book chains and online book
ordering options, Shea makes a strong case for quirky, loving, independent
bookstores.
Shea’s book certainly had an effect on me. From now on, I’ll
use Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Borders primarily for research, browsing, and perhaps
munching on an overpriced pastry or two. But when I want to buy a book, I’m going to my
local independent bookstore to help keep its doors open for business. I’m lucky because
Edwards Books is just ten miles up the highway from my home—but there’s undoubtedly a
great little bookstore within driving distance of most dedicated readers. Perhaps I’ll
even pick up a copy of Songs From a Lead-Lined Room, Shea’s memoir about her
diagnosis, treatment, and recovery from breast cancer, or her forthcoming new novel,
Becoming Finola. Perhaps I’ll even get Shea to sign her books … as she notes in
the epilogue of Shelf Life, she’s still working at Edwards Books three years after she took the job.
