Welcome to The Spinoff Bookseller Confessional, in which we get to know Aotearoa’s booksellers. This week: Louise and Gareth Ward, owners of Wardini Books and authors of bestseller The Bookshop Detectives: Dead Girl Gone.
Weirdest question you’ve ever been asked on the shop floor
We had a customer who kept ordering Poldark books and each time they picked up the books they told us that they were related to “The Poldarks”. We didn’t have the heart to point out that they were fictional characters.
Funniest thing you’ve overheard on the shop floor
Teenager 1: I love bookshops. Wouldn’t it be brilliant if you could just take any books you wanted.
Teenager 2: Duh! That’s a library.
Best thing about being a bookseller
Sharing your love of books with others. The book ecosystem is wonderful and whether you’re talking to customers, librarians, publishers, authors or other booksellers, they all have a common passion for books.
Worst thing about being a bookseller
Amazon. Bookshops are resilient and have brilliant people keeping them alive but I fear that one day the last book will be sold from a bricks and mortar bookshop and only then will people say how did we let this happen?
Most requested books
Local children’s picture books that have just been in the newspaper. Grandparents in particular are always on the lookout so it’s a good idea to keep an eye on books in the local news. After that it’s whatever has just been reviewed on Nine to Noon.
Most underrated books
Anything that we love and that nobody is interested in until it wins an award. There are some books that we know are awesome, that we put in front of customers but for some reason they will not buy, then when it wins an award…
What you’d recommend to a reader looking for escapism
The Murderbot Diaries – Martha Wells. It was one of those books where within a very short space of time I was wondering what trickery the author had used to make me love the protagonist so much. Brilliant! (Gareth)
What you’d recommend to a reader looking for an emotional rollercoaster
Shilo Kino’s All That We Own Know. The protagonist, Māreikura, is angry and confused and exploring all of her hurts volubly and indiscriminately. It’s a breathtaking, funny, warm and glorious book. (Lou)
What you’d recommend to someone ‘looking for something New Zealand’
The Axeman’s Carnival. It has humour, horror, heart, sorrow, redemption and all set in a beautiful NZ landscape. Someone really should take a proper look at this Catherine Chidgey lady because I think she might have some potential. (Gareth)
Favourite bookshop that isn’t your own
Sherlock Tomes from the bestselling novel The Bookshop Detectives: Dead Girl Gone. OK, totally cheated here because it is heavily based on Wardini Books but also, in the novel we wanted it to serve as an exemplar of all the wonderful bookshops in Aotearoa and show some of the trials and tribulations that they endure.
The book I wish I’d written
Bridge of Clay by Markus Zusak. It’s bewildering and beguiling and you have to invest your trust in the story because every single thing that is said or that happens is essential to the reader’s full understanding of the book. It’s the perfect novel. (Lou)
Everyone should read
Introducing Te Tiriti o Waitangi (BWB Texts) because it’s short, snappy and factual and a simple introduction. There’s a lot of discussion and opinion out there and this book is a beginner’s guide to the history of the agreement that was made in 1840. (Lou)
The book I want to be buried with
The Traitor and the Thief – it was my first published novel and I still think it is bloody brilliant and deserved to have found a wider audience than it did. (Gareth)
What are you reading right now
All the Colours of the Dark by Chris Whitaker (Gareth); Ōkiwi Brown by Cristina Sanders (Lou).