‘It’s important for me to be somewhere with soul’: Naomi Ishiguro

My first proper job was at Mr B’s Emporium of Reading Delights in Bath. I grew up and studied in London, but once I graduated I felt burnt out by the city. It was important for me to move somewhere with soul, and work at a place that’s in touch with the things I care about. Bath made sense because I’m bookish – a huge Jane Austen fan – and Mr B’s is based around community, independent spirit and creativity. I wrote to them. Luckily, they were hiring.

Working there was like being in a cosy literary television sitcom. My colleagues were lovely people who looked out for each other and tried to make the world a better place. We were bibliotherapists, not just booksellers, offering the reading equivalent of a spa. I loved having heartfelt, in-depth conversations with readers, asking them questions, making them tea and cake, and recommending a stack of books. Some of my closest friends were originally Mr B’s customers, so it helped me to form deeper relationships, too. Mr B’s is more than a shop to me. It has been my sanctuary through life’s tumultuous shifts and changes: a friend passing away suddenly; career ups and downs; a recent break-up. It’s a touchstone that that I and many others can come back to. Saving our societies depends on our ability as human beings to empathise with each other and reading is one of the core ways we can do that. Sharing our internal worlds helps us to get to a central truth.