Shelf Life

In this memoir, Shea continues the narrative begun in Songs from a Lead-Lined Room, detailing her experiences working in a local bookstore to occupy her time while she recovers form breast cancer. She recounts her memories with humor and wit, showing the reader why the book provides "the basic ammunition for daily life." Shea's own experiences as a writer are blended with the everyday details of working in a bookstore. The result is an engaging mix of memories that readers will no doubt be able to appreciate --from Shea's anxieties about how her own book will sell to her concerted efforts to help customers find just the right title for their situation. The author also remembers fondly how her love of books began: with the neighborhood bookmobile and the librarians who were "straight from central casting, with cat-eye glasses and sweaters draped over the shoulder and held with pearly clips."