Love those books

Plenty magazine: Spring 2007. Story: Robyn Yousef Photography: Simeon Patience and Brian High

We may live in a mass-media world but small, independent bookshops keep thriving in big-smoke streets and provincial centres. The story starts here…

He’s 41, looks years younger and has already achieved more than most could in several lifetimes. Doctor Sharad Paul is a skin cancer surgeon/family doctor/university lecturer/law graduate and author who has also found time to open a bookshop called the BACI lounge in Newmarket, Auckland.

“BACI (pronounced ‘batchi’) means kisses in Italian. Sharad loves Italy, but he is absolutely passionate about literature. “I am consumed by a passion to revitalise the art of reading and the tradition of a friendly local independent bookstore.”

Also shorthand for ‘books, art, coffee inc.’, BACI is designed as a new concept for people who love the printed word. Set inside in Newmarket’s Rialto Cinema complex, it has an a club-like ambience with opulent colours, magnificent chandeliers and large gracious armchairs. With its own café, it offers wine as well as coffee and is open from 10 until 10 daily.

Along with a full range of quality books from local publishers, the shop also stocks a select range of imported titles not usually available in New Zealand. They come from small English and American presses and include foreign authors like Palestinian writer Elias Khoury and Russia’s Yuri Rytkhea. Sharad also imports very exclusive art books from the United States.

“We encourage clients to flick through books while they are enjoying coffee, a meal or a glass of wine. Some publishers thought I was nuts and would end up with lots of damaged stock, but this is all part of my vision for the business.”

Born in England, Sharad grew up in India after his parents both left comfortable careers as doctors to take up medical missionary work in their homeland. He completed residencies in plastics surgery and family medicine and also studied law before immigrating to New Zealand 15 years ago. “I came here on holiday and liked it so much I had to stay.” His wife works in Auckland as a geriatrician and they have a 10-year-old daughter.

When he couldn’t envisage a career doing cosmetic surgery (“I’ve never been driven by money”), Sharad established a practice in Blockhouse Bay for skin cancer surgery and part-time general practice. He’s also a senior lecturer in surgery at the University of Auckland and in skin cancer at Australia’s Queensland University, where he’s based one week each month.

A voracious reader and writer since childhood, he had several short stories published in British literary journals and then in 2001 won a literary competition with a story called The Kite Flyers. It was set amongst the colourful Tamil society of southern India. He expanded the tale (“a story of love, childhood friendship and redemption”) into a novel which has been published by Picador in the United Kingdom and, recently, here too.

“Picador picked it up immediately. It was quite surreal as I write primarily for myself.” He was a little disappointed when the book had to be renamed Cool Cut as the title was too similar to that of Khaled Hosseini’s acclaimed novel, The Kite Runner. “It had grown as Kite Flyers in my head for such a long time.” He does his writing at night. “when my head is buzzing with ideas I just have to get up and write.” His future aim is for profits from BACI to go to local programmes to improve reading and writing skills for our kids.” Behind his passion is a philosophy expressed by a quote from Jerry Seinfeld, used on BACI’s flyers: “A bookstore is the only piece of evidence we have that people are still thinking.”

Almost All New Zealand Books, a second-hand bookshop in Oamaru is the perfect retirement project for former journalist, Tula Christian. Based in the beautiful and old whitestone Star & Garter building in the town’s Victorian precinct, her shop has a stock of about 7000 books. Christian hasn’t read them all, but she knows almost every title she has in stock. “It’s their precise location that sometimes stumps me.”

The store has a wonderfully welcoming atmosphere with big, squishy sofas and perfect reading light from the large windows. It sits beside the local repertory theatre and beneath the Operatic Society. Christian reads mostly non-fiction, but does have one favourite fiction writer – Maurice Gee. “You really might like to start with Plumb, the first in the trilogy,” she tells a customer keen to start a collection of Gee’s award-winning novels. Because Oamaru was once the home town of the late celebrated writer, Janet
Frame, there is huge interest in her work. Another customer keen to read about Frame’s life and times in North Otago flicks through several books while Christian offers sound advice.

She first started selling books at a stall at the local Sunday market. About 18 months later she opened a shop in Tees Street with around 3000 books. Last year came the move to her present, larger premises.

Christian discovered her love for New Zealand books as a 1960s schoolgirl growing up in Upper Hutt, where she loved to be “let loose in the library”.

At a time when most teachers were promoting “Coleridge, Browning and Jane Austen”, Christian read all the local history books she could find.

After working as a teacher, and with her family grown, Christian decided in 1990 that it was time for a lifestyle change and embarked on a journalism course at Northland Polytechnic. Then she and her man became gypsies. “We moved where the jobs were – Taihape, Auckland, the central North Island then on to the West Coast and Nelson.”

They visited Oamaru, liked it, and returned to settle in 2003. “Our nomadic lifestyle had started to feel stale and Oamaru had a good feel to it. It had potential, and time has proven our decision right. The place has drive, attitude and the people to make things happen.”

While local book lovers are supportive, most business comes from visitors to the town. “People on holiday will come in looking for a book they might have spent years searching for. Of course, they’re very happy if they find a copy here.”

Eighty per cent of the books on her shelves are New Zealand-published. “I could make it 100 per cent New Zealand but to be pragmatic there remains a healthy market for other non-fiction and good overseas books.”

She has thought about selling online but doing business on the web doesn’t have the same appeal. “A lot of people still like browsing and they often say they don’t know what they want until they see it.”

She is totally happy in her semi-retirement. “This is the most wonderful job – absolutely stress-free,” she says as she directs another reader to the right shelf. “I plan to toddle down here for as long as I can get out and about and find books.”

Reprinted by permission. Copyright 2007 Plenty magazine Spring 2007 published for Hanover Group.