If you know me in real life or follow me on social media, you know how much I love my little town.  With the exception of the weather, I love everything about it.  One of my favorite places in the town is our local, independent bookstore.  Books & Company has been a staple in Oconomowoc for almost 40 years for book lovers like me, thanks in large part to its owner, Lisa B! It’s possible she has a last name, but everyone I know calls her Lisa B and knows her by her glowing smile and fabulous book recommendations.

When you step into Books & Company, you are always greeted with a smile.  As often as not, Lisa herself is behind the counter ready to help you find a book, make a recommendation, or ring you up when you’re ready to go.  After 9 years of buying books and attending events at Books & Company, I thought it was time to learn a little more about the woman behind the smile.

A Little Background on Lisa B from Books & Company

Her Early Life and Family

It turns out that Lisa grew up in New Mexico in a family of readers, artists, and teachers.  If she’s not reading, she’s cooking, gardening, or spending time on a trail or in a kayak.  She has two sons who currently live Madison.  Her oldest, Ely, is a bookseller at A Room of One’s Own, and her youngest, Noah, is a manager & pizza maker at Roman Candle Pizza.  They both love to read. She has two cats who keep her entertained and like to curl up next to her when she’s reading.

Becoming Lisa B from Books & Company

She moved to Oconomowoc in 2007 to purchase Books & Company from Diana Cohen, who bought the store in 1983. Can you believe Books & Company is celebrating 36 years in Oconomowoc!?!?!?!

It’s All About the Books

She started as a full-time bookseller in 1991 at Salt of the Earth Books in Albuquerque, NM.  Since then she’s worked at bookstores in Kansas and Iowa before settling in Wisconsin.  She’s been on the board for the Midwest Booksellers Association and is currently on the Oconomowoc Public Library‘s Board.  According to her, the best part of her job is talking about books and creating a space for people to share and discover their love of stories.

Talking Books with Lisa B

Since I love talking books and Lisa loves talking books, I thought it would be perfect to ask her more about what she loves to read.  She makes such good recommendations….  Enquiring minds Want To Know!!!!

Me: What is your favorite genre? 

Lisa B: I am all over the place with my reading often dipping in and out of several books at a time.  Literary fiction, middle grade fiction, poetry, memoir, essays about food and nature, kids picture books, and cookbooks. My night stand overflows with at least one book from each of those categories.  I’ve never been a series reader.  I’m also terrible with suspense. Yup, I am one of those who jumps to the end to let off a little suspense steam.  Unfortunately, with that tendency I don’t pick up a lot of mystery, thrillers, or horror.   

Me: Do you mostly read for pleasure or do you mostly read for professional development?

Lisa B: It is so hard to separate pleasure reading from work reading because reading is the foundation of my work.  As a bookseller, everything you read becomes professional development. I just wish I had more time to read!  

Me: Do you share what you read with your co-workers to encourage them to read more? 

Lisa B: I am so lucky to have a staff of booksellers who love to read and love to talk about what they are reading. Add the most amazing customers (both kids and adults) into that mix and my days are spent either being encouraged to read another book or encouraging someone else to read a particular book. I enjoy hearing what book someone either loved or hated and why. Reading is like breathing or eating.  It’s just what we do and can’t stop doing. 

Reading is like breathing or eating.  It’s just what we do and can’t stop doing. 

– Lisa Baudoin, Books & Company

Me: What are you currently reading?  Thoughts on it?  

Lisa B: Last night the breeze through the open window and the early evening light was perfect.  I decided to sit down for a few minutes to read just one short chapter of This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger. The next thing I knew it was pitch black out and my whole house was dark except for the one light I was reading by.  That one short chapter turned into a whole chunk of a book. You know it’s a good story when you lose track of time. This Tender Land is a good old-fashioned story about four orphans who set-out on their own to flee a a tenuous and often treacherous situation at an Indian border school during the depression. 

I’m also finishing up Alexandra Fuller’s new memoir about her dad Travel Light, Move Fast. Her parents left England to farm in Africa in the 1960’s. Fuller’s memoirs are about growing up in Rhodesia/Zimbabwe, her family, and her eventual move to Wyoming. I’ve read every book Alexandra Fuller has written.  She has a way of telling a story straight on with humor along side hardship and tenderness. 

The book I want to go back to is Three Summers by Margarita Liberaki, about three sisters over three summers in Greece before World War II.  It was originally written in 1946.  It’s all sunshine and dinners, family and neighbors, gardens and gossip, and three sisters coming of age.  It s delightful and surprisingly modern.  My reading of it was interrupted by The Most Fun We Ever Had (LOVED IT) by Claire Lombardo and This Tender Land – because we hosted Claire Lombardo in early August and will be hosting William Kent Krueger in September.  My weakness is not always finishing a book before another one demands attention.  This is that work/pleasure dilemma. So many books and so little time.

Adding to my TBR thanks to Lisa

I have to concur with her opinion of The Most Fun We Ever Had.  I absolutely LOVED it and am so happy that Books & Company had Claire Lombardo visit (read my blog post about it here).  Author visits are my favorite and Claire was amazing.  And because Lisa’s recommendations are always spot on, I added This Tender Land and Three Summers to my ever-growing TBR.

Stop By and Say Hello

If you are local to Oconomowoc, you need to stop by Books & Company to say hi to Lisa B. and crew, get a book recommendation, or meet an author.  You will be greeted with a smile and leave with an awesome new book!