This one is both easy and hard. Easy because I’m going to repeat myself with the same job (or a similar one) in a few different books – obviously anything related to books is a go-to! And hard because finding jobs that aren’t working with books is not as easy as I though it would be!
I haven’t read any of Michiko Kakutani’s work before this, but I’ve heard great things about her book reviews (and remember hearing about her in the episode of Sex and the City when Carrie’s book comes out and she’s waiting for Michiko Kakutani’s review of it). Making a career out of reviewing books – something I’ve been doing for a decade for free – seems like a dream come true! Likewise The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore is such a charming children’s book about a man who takes over a library and is surrounded by living books that become his friends, which is how I feel about my books, alive or not. Working in a bookshop is something I never got to do (I tried but never successfully got hired at one) but think I’d love to do, so Weird Things is a fairly obvious one. I might not have read every book out there, but I know a lot about a good few of them, so I think I’d be decent at recommending books and finding books people are looking for!
Learning to See is about a photographer, and while I wouldn’t want her life (her artist partner is totally useless and makes her life so much harder) I have always wanted to be a photographer – particularly a black and white portrait photographer. I love capturing that perfect image that shows you an aspect of a person or makes you stop and examine the image because it feels like there’s something special there. High Fidelity is, again, not a life I’d want, but working in a music store back in the ’90s sounds like so much fun! I’ve always wanted to be a librarian, for similar reasons as working in a bookstore with the added benefit of seeing the same kids and readers coming in over and over again and being able set aside new books I know they’d love based on past loans. The library was my safe and happy place when I was a kid, and I spent many happy weekends volunteering there. I’d love to do that again – ideally with some kind of a paycheque! Breaking and Mending is one that you wouldn’t think would make anyone want to step into her shoes. And mostly it didn’t. The medical system as it stands, both here and in the UK (where she worked as a junior doctor) is broken and demands more of its staff than they can ever give. It costs them mental and physical health and compromises the care patients receive. But in spite of all that, I do want to be a therapist. I’d love to help people navigate challenging times in their lives and learn to cope with the types of mental health issues I’ve had to deal with. I’d love it if the crap I have dealt with could help someone else.
The first two here are kind of extras as they are basically the same as the third book – I just really want to work in a bookshop okay. Along the Inca Road is an account of a journalist who went on a journey (I think while working for National Geographic) to explore the Inca Road, and her experiences and the people she met enchanted me when I read this years ago. I dreamed of doing something similar, but never got the chance. I think it would be an amazing thing to do! Wintering is one I just read recently, mostly on a whim. I have been struggling a bit, as I’m sure you have too, and It seemed like it might help with my mental landscape. It also made me wish I had been able to make a career out of writing, and I’ve always wanted to work in academia (I think she is a teacher at least for part of this book). I know it’s not an easy road, but I imagine it would be fulfilling if you can make it work!
That’s it for this week! What about you guys? Did any of you pick similar careers to the ones I chose? Did any of my books show up on your list? Have you read any of these? Share in the comments!
Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly link-up feature created by The Broke and the Bookish and hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. Every week TTT has a different topic, and everyone who links up has to create a link of ten items that fit that topic. To see past and upcoming topics, go here.
I love the idea of working in a small bookshop! Maybe post-pandemic that’s something I’d consider. There’s a really cute little local bookstore in our town with the comfiest reading chairs and a cute little cafe inside too. I could happily put in 40 hours a week there!
I would love to work in a bookshop, but there aren’t that many near where I live, unfortunately. I think I might love being a librarian even more – but I don’t have the time or money for a doctorate in library science, and I know even people who have one find it a competitive area to work in, so there’s zero chance of that happening! Maybe I’ll just turn my house into a library at some point – I certainly have enough books for it!
It would be so great to be paid for doing book reviews!
My TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2021/03/02/top-ten-tuesday-305/
Right??? Man, I would love that. Though in reality it would probably mean reading a lot of books that aren’t ones you’d read on your own and having to write to a specific word count and on a deadline, so, you know, a JOB. But the fantasy is quite appealing! Lol!
Ha ha yes, the reality probably isn’t as glamorous, but in my fantasies I am just sitting reading books I want all day.
Oh man, wouldn’t that be lovely though?
So lovely!
I would love all of these jobs. We have many of the same jobs on our lists. In fact, we even have some of the same books.
Great minds! Also I think bookish folk will all likely have some of the bookish jobs, and then I think there are some that are kind of parallel – anything in the arts, historians, teachers, that kind of thing. We like creativity and learning, I think!
Being a photographer would be so cool!
My post: https://lydiaschoch.com/top-ten-tuesday-characters-whose-job-i-wish-i-had/
Definitely! The character in this book took one of the most famous photos from The Great Depression – the black and white one of the mother with her kids. I love that photo, so that definitely added to desire to have her skills!
Great analysis. I went off the board this week because I couldn’t remember anyone’s professions except for the teachers and since I’m one that wasn’t fun. Check out my off the board list please. Thanks you. My TTT
Haha! As you can tell I had trouble thinking past books about people who were writers or booksellers or bookstore owners or librarians! I got very stuck in that particular area for quite some time. I will check it out! Thanks for stopping by!