Welcome back! For this instalment of our 5 questions with series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Tracey Mitchell and Peter Garden from Turning the Tide.

Established in 2003, Turning the Tide is Saskatoon’s alternative bookstore, offering a selection of fiction, and hand-picked non-fiction books on current events, sustainable living, and generally making the world a better place. They also offer cookbooks, children’s books, graphic novels, and magazines.

Now, without further ado, let’s get to Tracey and Peter’s answers to our questionnaire.

1. Which author would you most like to have for an event in your store (living or dead)?

Robin Wall Kimmerer, author of Braiding Sweetgrass. She's got fascinating and important perspectives on language, nature, and ways of intermingling Indigenous Knowledge and science. Also, we've sold more copies of Braiding Sweetgrass than any other non-textbook title in the last five years, so we know that our customers would love to meet her.

2. What attracted you to bookselling?

Peter: I love sharing things that I am passionate about with other people. That goes for books, music, activities, or places. When I opened the bookstore, I was (and still am) passionate about issues of social justice and the environment, and owning a bookstore seemed like a great way to share that passion. I had some retail experience in the past but knew very little about running my own business. Thankfully, I was able to learn the trade as I went along, using my drive to share these ideas with others to put great books in people’s hands and keep them coming back.

3. What's your favourite bookselling war story?

We had someone we knew, we'll call him Steve, come in to the store before the holidays one year. Steve told us a bit about what he liked in fiction and asked for recommendations. We suggested a couple of titles including The Love Songs of W.E.B Dubois. Steve said that novel and another looked good and asked us to tell his partner, if she came in holiday shopping, that he had been looking at those titles, but not to tell her he'd asked us to say anything. We did exactly that, emailing the rest of the team to let them know to keep an eye out for Steve's partner. During Boxing Week, Steve returned the books saying he said he had neither looked at those books nor mentioned them to us. Recommending books is easily the best part of the job, but sometimes even the best picks are for naught!

4. What is the most pressing issue facing bookselling today?

Peter: I would say the hegemony of Amazon. It was so refreshing to see people turn to support local businesses including bookstores during the pandemic. People were consciously supporting local and it made a huge difference for us. In fact, our sales doubled during the first 18 months of COVID. It was incredible! We are working very hard to keep those customers coming back with really good customer service, the convenience of online ordering, and local delivery options.

5. What forthcoming book are you most excited about?

Khodi Dill, a local Saskatoon author, teacher, and hip hop artist has a non-fiction book coming out in October that's part memoir part anti-racist manifesto entitled Stay Up: Racism, Resistance, And Reclaiming Black Freedom published by Annick Press. Khodi has written a couple of very successful children's books in the past two years and we are so excited for this upcoming release.

BONUS: An aunt comes in looking for a gift for her niece, who likes embroidery and Proust, just got a new job on a cruise line, and whose beloved schnauzer just passed away. What do you recommend?

The House on the Cerulean Sea comes to mind. It's about how we care for one another, is loosely philosophical, is set near the ocean, and the main character has a beloved pet cat, Calliope. It's uplifting and whimsical and her niece is likely to adore it!

Thank you Tracey and Peter for answering our questionnaire! Read more instalments of our 5 questions with series here.

Are you an independent bookseller, small publisher, or library staffer interested in being featured in our 5 questions with blog series? Send us an email!