How would you describe your job to someone you just met?
The Large Buy Department's job is to purchase large amounts of books in bulk from stores and personal collections all around the country. Then we dig through boxes and boxes of books and pull out the ones we can sell and get them into stores.
Last book you loved:
I just finished the
Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy by Cixin Liu and it's some of the best sci-fi I've ever read. I was blown away by his ideas about the implications of humanity heading into space, and how reasonable his extrapolations about the future felt.
Where are you originally from?
I'm originally from San Antonio, Texas.
What did you do before you came to Powell’s?
I worked for Whole Earth Provision Co., an outdoor and travel store based out of Austin, TX, doing shipping and receiving. Before that I helped run their awesome toy and book department.
I can't seem to stop buying old pulp sci-fi books with crazy artwork on the cover.
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Share a memorable experience you've had on the job.
I got to listen to the astronaut Chris Hadfield talk when he came to our Burnside location for his book
An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth. I didn't even know he was going to be there that night, but my manager was awesome enough to let me work in that room so I could listen to him talk about his experiences as an astronaut and as commander of the International Space Station.
When you’re not reading, what do you like to do in your free time?
I like to spend a lot of my free time painting. I got really into it a few years ago and find it wonderfully engrossing. Working at Powell’s and having such easy access to so many great instructional books has been a huge help to me.
Do you collect any particular types of books?
I don't collect anything in particular, but I can't seem to stop buying old pulp sci-fi books with crazy artwork on the cover. They really just don't design books the way they used to.
Do you have any odd reading habits?
I don't know if it’s weird, but I listen to a lot of audiobooks and I'll usually listen to them at 1.25-1.5x speed. It works best on titles I've read or listened to before, but once you get into it you don't really notice the speed difference.
What’s your favorite book of all time?
Harry Potter, by far. I've lost count of how many times I've gone through the series and it never gets old for me. I also listen to the audiobooks at least once a year and will put them on if I'm having trouble falling asleep.