You meet the friendliest people at Tome!

Amor Martinez, bookseller/receiving clerk

I love books and like to read all over the board. Some of my favorite authors are Hunter S. Thompson, Kurt Vonnegut, Amy Sedaris, and Terry Goodkind.

Amy McDonald, bookseller/webmaster
I like to read fiction, but lately I have been picking up some different books. As a soon to be college freshman, I've found that travel guides, cookbooks, and the occasional humorous book are an essential part in preparing for school.

Brown Bear, community liaison/bookkeeper
I like to read biographies, autobiographies, and world history, as well as regional books.

Janet Chapman, events coordinator/children's book buyer/program development/used book buyer

Now in my 28th year in the book business, I am still partial to children's books and (grown-up) mysteries. I'm really interested in reading about the lives and works of children's book illustrators. I also enjoy books on birds (nature essays, field observations, etc). Favorite authors: Roald Dahl, P.D. James.  

Joann Martinez, bookseller
I like to read fiction and mysteries, especially regional titles. Some of my favorite authors are Michael McGarrity and J.A. Jance. I also enjoy biographies.

Maya McDonald, bookseller
I like to young adult fantasy books and books that touch on Greek mythology.

Michael Siewert, manager
I like to read history (especially art/architectural history), literary fiction and criticism, poetry, and anything else that captures my interest at the moment. My guilty pleasure is spy thrillers, particularly the novels of Alan Furst and John Le Carre.

Nancy Colalillo, owner 

I've spent most of my adult life in retail and related businesses and grew up in a supermarket family.  Bookselling is a genteel pursuit compared to the food business!  The two are somewhat related as books bring nourishment and sustenance to the mind and soul.  I still consider myself the Produce Queen and hate the sound of a book hitting the floor as much as the sound of a hand of bananas being broken in half!

I probably have the quirkiest reading habits of anyone on staff!  Mideast history, bios, kids picture books, anything and everything about Paris!  In terms of guilty pleasures, mine are the mystery novels of Cara Black which are all set in a famous (or infamous) quartier de Paris! 

Suzanne Cole, bookseller  

I like to read a little of everything but especially fiction, memoir, mystery, nature and neuroscience writing.  Every now and then I have a craving for some romantic, mushy stuff and devour about 3 or 4 books until the craving is satisfied.

Vicki Howell, bookseller

I stopped reading when I had kids.  I missed it, and was jealous of those who were discussing books.  I didn't even know what I liked to read anymore.  I was on a vacation with friends in Pagosa Springs, walked in a bookstore to catch up with them and there it was, MISTRESS OF SPICES by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni.  I was hooked, my husband is from India, and the setting was in Oakland, my hometown.  

I started reading more East Indian women authors and have since moved on to historical novels, mysteries, memoirs, fiction and I always have a soft spot for children's picture books.