Welcome to From the Front Porch, a conversational podcast about books, small business, and life in South. It's against my principles to buy a book I haven't read. It's like buying a dress you haven't tried on.

Helene Hamp,, Charing Cross Road.

I'm Annie Jones, owner of the Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in beautiful downtown

Thomasville, Georgia, and today I'm joined by my friend and frequent collaborator Hunter McClendon to talk all about personal

libraries. What books do we buy? Which do we borrow? What titles stay on our shelves forever and which ones make their way to the donation bin.

Hi Hunter.

Hello.

Oh my gosh, this is so, we were talking off air that this is so strange to not be in the same room and to not see each other, but we're doing our best.

Yeah, this is, it's a new experience, but also like new experiences are good, they help you grow.

That's right, well goshosh by the end of all of this we will

have grown so much right?

We'll be like 10 to call.

Look I thought you were the perfect person to talk to about this because you, I was going to say work in a different realm of the book publishing industry. Would you consider your book's

Graham work?

I honestly at this point yes it is it is taxing like not even because of what I do as

far as like taking pictures and stuff and talking about books but because of the demand of the people.

Yeah, so I feel like I work on the book selling side. You work, we'll call it like marketing PR through book

Instagram and you're just a really avid reader. So you and I both have the

opportunity to bring home a lot of books. And I also think you and I are both if you had your choice between a bookstore or a library

Where's your natural inclination a bookstore? Yeah, that's what mine has always been and And I want to be clear, I loved my library in Tallahassee

when we lived there.

I was a devoted fan, so I don't think you have to choose

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