Ann spends most of her time researching, choosing and ordering books for Kalk Bay Books. While this could be called work, for Ann it's heaven and her reward comes when customers find gems on the shelves that they believe have been hand-selected for them. She is also responsible for the content on www.kalkbaybooks.co.za. If you have news or information for consideration for the website, you can send it to ann@kalkbaybooks.co.za.

Ann: The job requires eclectic reading but for my personal reading pleasure I lean towards literary fiction, books about books, writing and language, politics and current affairs, and biographies. Books I'd pay people to read (well, not literally - I'd prefer you to pay us!): anything by Ivan Vladislavic, Jonny Steinberg, Marlene van Niekerk, Ian McEwan and Rose Tremain. Favourite books (for now) include Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell, Oryx & Crake by Margaret Atwood, The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins, Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser, Hot Type by Bongani Madondo, A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry, Mark Gevisser's Thabo Mbeki: The Dream Deferred, Some of my Best Friends are White by Ndumiso Ngcobo. To lighten up, crime is the sin of choice, most recently Peter Temple has filled the gap nicely.

Carmen has been with Kalk Bay Books since before the beginning - hefting boxes, loading data, liaising with suppliers, keeping everyone else sane. Apart from her part in managing the shop, Carmen is one of our buyers, manages our returns, co-ordinates the administrative functions, and generally keeps control...

Carmen: I was the child who read with a torch under the blankets long after I should have been asleep. If I’m honest though I’m a bit of book harlot/slut – I’m loose and free with my affections for the written word. Not to say that there are not particular genres and writers that I veer towards: armchair travel in the vein of Bruce Chatwin, South African history, historical novels, and short stories. Good crime stories also go down well.

Alice Hoffman, Bruce Chatwin, Guy de Maupassant, John Berendt, Jonny Steinberg, Margaret Attwood, Marguerite Poland, Sebastian Faulks, Somerset Maugham these are few of my favourite things/authors! If I was  to recommend a book to a customer, most probably Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides, The Road  by Cormac McCarthy, In Corner B by Es’Kia Mphahlele and all of Jonny Steinberg’s books. I will also more than likely convince you to buy a copy of I Flying by local poet Finuala Dowling

My current best reads: Zanzibar Chest by Aidan Hartley, The Golden Spruce by John Valliant, World Without End  by Ken Follett, Three-Letter Plague by Jonny Steinberg and Wish I was Here by Jackie Kay.

Mary-Ann has joined Kalk Bay Books as our Senior Bookseller. With eight years of retail book experience, and a wealth of book knowledge, Mary-Ann is a great asset to our team.

Apart from radiating her Irish charm around the store Aisling (pronounced Ashling) spends most of her time correcting people's pronunciation of her name and helping to manage the shop. Aisling has recently become a mother to Kian, and has now taken on the position of Weekend Manager, during which time she hosts our younger readers to a regular Saturday storytime, in addition to contributing content about children's books to the website. She is one of the buyers and is also responsible for customer orders. If there's a book in print she will do her best to find it for you - see our Terms & Conditions for Customer Orders.

Aisling: My particular area of interest is children's literature with a specific emphasis on illustrators and collector's editions. My degree in English literature and PhD in development sociology means I am widely read across a broad range of topics but my favourite genres are the classics and literary biographies and my favourite authors are Jeanette Winterson, Philip Pullman, Dave Eggers and Ken Follett. The books I will try to sell you frequently are Wally Lamb's I Know This Much is True, Ken Follett's World Without End and anything by Alain de Botton.

Carima is a full-time social work student at UCT and has found great pleasure in a having a part-time job at a book store.

Carima: When I tell people that I work at the bookshop opposite the harbour in Kalk Bay they go green with envy. Working at Kalk Bay Books is one of the most relaxing, and not to mention rewarding, places to be. When it comes to books I like to keep it local, Rayda Jacobs, John van de Ruit and Pamela Jooste are some of my favourites but I wouldn’t say no to a James Patterson or Khaled Hosseini book either.

 

The person who keeps the books at Kalk Bay Books, is Lee, who ensures the financial management of the business runs smoothly. When she's not walking the local mountains, Lee enjoys reading non-fiction, particularly biographies. She also enjoys the writing of Truman Capote.