People

Robert Sheard, who recently opened Bookshop by the Lakes in West End, North Carolina, said he got into bookselling for the same reason a lot of people do, self-defense. "I ran out of room for all my books at home," he explained. After a lifetime of bibliophilia and with ongoing careers as an English professor, author, and investment advisor, Sheard turned to bookselling.

By Scott Foley

It can happen when any passion becomes a vocation; over the years something has changed in my appreciation of books. Publishers are more generous than ever with free offerings, so I am purchasing fewer and fewer titles for personal use. With books overflowing from my dresser onto my bedside table and in stacks in my office, I still love to read, but sometimes I wonder if I take the privilege for granted these days. Have I lost my appreciation of the intrinsic value of a book, beyond its literal cover price?

John Hickenlooper, a successful, popular restaurant owner and developer, has become the successful and popular mayor of Denver. With no previous political experience, "not school treasurer, not dog catcher," Hickenlooper took office in July 2003, succeeding Mayor Wellington Webb.

Paul Auster was 15 years old when he found the book that made him decide to become a writer.

"I was a sophomore in high school," said Auster (born in Newark, New Jersey, and living now in Brooklyn), "when I read Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment. And I was so overwhelmed by the book, I said to myself: 'If this is what a novel can be -- then I want to do it, too.'"

Bonnie Mercier of Lynn, Massachusetts, has won the grand prize in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, The Final Journey Sweepstakes, which ended on December 15. Mercier won a prize package of luggage and travel supplies, a J.R.R. Tolkien library, DVDs and video games, and movie memorabilia, in the promotion, which was sponsored by Book Sense, Houghton Mifflin, and New Line Cinema to mark the release of the third and final installment of J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Return of the King, in movie theaters around the country.

New from Brava (a division of Kensington Publishing) is a historical romance titled The Bookseller’s Daughter by Pam Rosenthal, a former bookseller and part-owner of the Modern Times Bookstore in San Francisco. Pam is currently a computer programmer and writer, while her husband, Michael, runs the store.

In the course of his publishing career, Michael Cader has done a lot of business over countless lunches. Since the spring of 2000, he's been making his own "Lunch," PublishersLunch, an aggregation of book-related news and links along with Cader's informed, but jocular, commentary. The comprehensive e-mail goes out each weekday morning free to over 24,000 editors, publishers, librarians, writers, movie scouts, booksellers, and other bona fide participants in the book business.

Joseph-Beth Booksellers, Cincinnati

While Pete Rose's baseball career is shrouded in controversy, and he recently admitted to betting on baseball while managing the Cincinnati Reds, Rose is as popular as ever in Cincinnati.