Perelandra Bookshop’s reader-in-residence commits to reading at the store for two hours per week in exchange for a small coffee and book stipend

  • Are the readers-in-residence allowed to read their books on their phone?

    In simpler terms, you won’t find labels like “fiction” or “biography” on the shelves. Instead, you’ll find genre labels lifted from book titles (“Living by Fiction”), poetry lines (“Flood the Margins”) or wordplay (“Subject, Object, Predicament”).

    I get what they’re going for, but good grief that sounds like it would be annoying if you’re looking for a particular book.

    • This sounds like the London Library:

      Organization: Shelved largely in order of acquisition instead of by subject or author.

      Benefits: This encourages readers to browse rather than search directly. This leads to chance encounters with books outside their usual interests, expanding horizons and making unexpected connections.