Meet Your Book Seller!

Here’s the story about how a girl who was told she would never read become a bookseller and an avid reader.

Hi, My name is Charlotte Klimek and I own and operate Hearthside Books. When I come in everyone always asks me why I decided to open a bookstore and so I have decided to tell my story so you can get to know me a little bit.

I wasn’t always in the booksellers trade. I actually went to culinary school and even worked as a cook for years. I have always loved cooking but doing it as a job was totally different. I loved working in nursing homes and preschools. I know completely different but both so much fun. I loved to get to know everyone. When Covid happened I was one of many who lost their jobs. However, that ended up being a blessing in disguise. I was pregnant with twins and also had a small toddler at home so I loved being able to be home with him.

After a little while I got a job at Mario’s here in town. I hadn’t cooked in awhile and was a little rusty, but the staff was amazing and I loved it. I spent two years in the pasta kitchen and loved it. I loved the freedom of creating the pastas but that thing you didn’t know was that the whole time I was back there I was listening to audiobooks or music if I forgot my earbuds.

So then I got a crazy idea one day. I had a dream about owning a bookstore and my friend at the time though it was a good idea and so we decided to open one. The crazy thing is that everything fell into place and we were able to get into a building. Life is crazy and I couldn’t believe it. Something I thought that would never happened had happened.

Now I’m a year and a half in and I love every minute of it! I love getting to know my customers and talking about books. I love to read and getting books into people’s hands makes me so happy. I love when customers come back to talk to me about the book I recommended. I love when kids come in and get excited to hunt for HB Fox or just to look at books.

When I am not at the store though I love to crochet. Although you can still see me crochet at the store too. It really helps me calm my mind between tasks and also I am crocheting a blanket based on my reading goals. I love being a mom to my three crazy little boys and I also love spending time with my friends. If My boys aren’t at the store with me they are at home being crazy with Dad. I try to plan adventures for us so that we can all do something fun together. The boys like to go berry picking with me in the spring and summer. I love it too!  I also love to can and garden. Most of the time what I garden or when we go picking I turn them into jams or juice. Sometimes we use the ingredients for cooking or baking but my boys love to help me with and baking or cooking that I do.

I think the craziest thing is that I love reading and can always be found with a book. When the boys play video games I am reading. When I’m at work I am always listening to audiobooks, but also have a book in by bag. I love any and all forms of reading. I love my kindle just as much as I love holding a book. Weirdly I can read multiple books at once and that is part of the reason I am able to finish so many books in a month. I also love giving recommendations. There is nothing better then talking about a book you love with someone you convinced to read it. I also don’t really have a favorite genre. I read whatever sounds interesting at the moment. So I read everything! Fantasy and Romance are genres I always go to when I can’t seem to find anything I want to read.

So this is me!