A job that changed me: As a bookseller I realised reading is more than an insular pleasure – it builds connection too

I learned how to recommend the perfect book for a child whose parents were divorcing and how to identify something based on vague descriptors such as ‘the cover is orange’

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I was in my early 20s when I landed my dream job. It was early 2018 and I had just started a master’s degree at the University of Melbourne, mostly because I didn’t know what to do with a bachelor of arts.

I had majored in creative writing without really thinking about a future career, certain only that I had always loved writing and reading books. But it turned out debating the pros and cons of Ernest Hemingway and penning poems about teenage breakups didn’t exactly land you a job.

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