InstantNew York TimesBestseller!

This celebration of the world of books (Kirkus) is filled with heartfelt testimonials (New Yorker) that “feels like a love letter” (USA Today) to booksellers andlibrariansas told to the greatest storyteller of our time, James Patterson.

To be a bookseller or librarian

You have to play detective.

Be a treasure hunter. A matchmaker. An advocate. A visionary.

A person who creates book joy by pulling a book from a shelf, handing it to someone and saying, Youve got to read this. Youre going to love it.

When the pandemic started, Patterson launched a movement, #SaveIndieBookstores [and]pledged half a million dollars, and, with the support of the American Booksellers Association and the Book Industry Charitable Foundation, the campaign ended up raising $1,239,595 from more than eighteen hundred donors…Somehow, the bookstore outlived the pandemic. Why?The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians, compiled by James Patterson and Matt Eversmann, suggests a few reasons.”New Yorker