Just when I thought my luggage was already too full of books, I discovered a great bookstore in Tacoma where I was attending a meeting. The gorgeous weather had me out on the streets walking, walking, walking and it didn’t take me long to find King’s Books. I had plenty of time to browse so I decided to do a slow troll from A to Z. (I’ve tried going Z to A in the past, but it never seems to work.)
As I browsed I read the shelf talkers describing various staff members’ favorite books. I soon realized that some guy named Kenny had reading tastes that are diametrically opposed to mine. You know, the kind of books that I find too complex and non-linear to be able to enjoy. And then the store’s phone rang and the guy at the desk said “King’s Books, this is Kenny”.
So that’s Kenny.
Always in the mood to have a book natter, I decided to strike up a conversation. Unfortunately, my opening line was about how we didn’t like the same kind of books. Kenny was extremely friendly but I could tell I was one ill-chosen word away from going down in his bookseller’s diary as being one of the annoying ones. When I went up to make my purchases I thought I would give it another go. I think I said something lame about my blog (this was harder than a blind date) but we eventually turned the corner from wary bookseller/boring customer to novelist-bookseller/not-as-boring-as-he-may-have-originally-thought-at-least-it-beats-staring-into-space, customer.
We even talked about, wait for it, A Little Life. He took my measured ranting in stride conceding a point here and there but never once waning in his love of the book. Simon Savidge may have to up his game as Kenny loves the book so much he has read it 3 or 4 times.
hogglestock 
Id loved to have been a fly on the wall when you were having that difficult conversation!
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If I had been a customer not participating in the conversation, I probably would have been rolling my eyes.
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Yay Petoskey! Your talk with Kenny cracks me up.
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And the thing about Petoskey is that the weather was so beautiful when Simon and I were there and my hotel room had a window that opened fully and faced the lake. It remains an extremely idyllic memory.
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What? No picture of Kenny? Did he have a mustache? That is how I imagine him.
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Laughing at Kenny. Have met a few Kennys in my travels. I am now on a quest to find the literary map of Michigan having grown up in the wintry state.
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Keep in mind we are laughing WITH Kenny, not at him. He was a stand up guy.
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That would have just added the word creepy to Kenny’s description of me.
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I’m also from Michigan and would love a literary map! And would love to have eavesdropped on that conversation. I have checked A Little Life out of the library but returned it unread.
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That’s the second book I read that Ann Kingman talked me into that I thought was a bad idea. Love her for what she did for Booktopia, but man oh man, I cannot take her book recommendations ever again. 🌸
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I am loving these posts about your travels and the books stores you hit up. Its like you are taking us along on a walking tour of each place :) Thanks for sharing!
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Thank you as always.
I have a computer folder of bookstore reviews across country from your blog. Started w/ a dream that …well …never know…i might be in this city someday, any city…and I know any bookshop that you love I would.
So many thanks for your good taste and honesty.
quinn
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Love your conversation with Kenny! I have a friend who likes very different books to me, so it can be useful in helping one to avoid things!
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