Chapter 11

ETHAN

I got to the store at 7:40 in the morning, thirty minutes earlier than my usual time. I got everything set up and in a few minutes, I was reclining on a chair, my nose in a book.

People often asked me why I decided to run a bookstore amidst other things I could have done. The truth was that I didn't think there was any one answer to that question. What I usually said was that my love for reading was the first thing that made me look in that direction and, to a great extent, that was true.

You know, there was something about reading a novel, especially when it was a very good one. There was this chill it gave that never got old. Whenever I had a good book in my hands, I often felt a sort of energy surge through my bones and, no, it was more than just excitement. I know it sounded silly or hyperbolic, but it was how I have always felt, even since I was a little boy who didn't understand most of the words I read and would often be seen with a notepad beside me where I put down