The B Team

Nic Bottomley

My reading comfort zone is an American townscape or rural community packed with eccentric or embattled characters (think Steinbeck, Annie Proulx, Cormac McCarthy, Carson McCullers, John Fante, Larry McMurtry) or a European or Asian townscape or rural community packed with eccentric or embattled characters (think Arto Paasilinna, Pietro Grossi, or Murakami and friends).

Beyond that zone I dip my toe in many directions, particularly where it involves rich and evocative descriptions of a foreign land, a past time, a sporting drama or a journey, particularly a journey led by Patrick Leigh Fermor.

The reading is almost always painfully slow. With Mr B's and Little Miss B happily occupying most daylight hours my chosen author has to be on his or her game to see off eyelids intent on closing.

I have been to 27 Bruce Springsteen concerts (geek), am a lifelong Norwich City supporter and love to wallow in fragrant bubble bath.

Check out some of my favourite books here.

Juliette Bottomley

Compared to my brother (see Harvey), I was more likely to be found playing pretend "I have a horse" games with my friends than with my nose in a book. When it wasn't raining I might pick up a book but then only if it featured a girl who had a real horse in it. It wasn't until I studied French and German literature at school that I understood the power of a beautifully written book, and just how addictive reading can be.

I'm a fiction gal through and through. Whether magical, quirky or realistic, I look for a truly excellent story, often the darker the better. A story that picks you up and spits you out the other side, that makes you hold your breath and forget where you are or that it's nearly your train stop. Most importantly I love a sad, ambiguous or nail-biting ending. I love the likes of Du Maurier, Zola, Hrabal, Dickens, Pullman, Atwood and, more recently, the wry American writer Brady Udall.

I love all kinds of dancing, I always leave half of my cup of tea, I could happily explain to you the tyre regulations in Formula 1 and I am scarily competitive at board games.

Check out some of my favourite books here

Lucinda Corby

Books - They eat up time on a long journey; go exceedingly well with coffee; teach you something new; make you laugh out loud; will shut up when you want them to; and occasionally, they can pack a life changing jolt.  I'm a big fan of chewy books (exhibit A: The Unconsoled), something that hasn't been pureed up for easy consumption. I may think differently when I'm (even) older and facing dentures.

Meantime, I'm quite happy to do some work, as long as there is some linguistic sustenance there. Chewy doesn't have to mean epic. I'm a sucker for a perfectly formed short story which hits you like a double espresso and leaves you buzzing for the whole day (exhibit B: Stone Tree). Kooky is good too (exhibit C: Breakfast at Tiffany's) - and I'm willing to give most genres a go (exhibit D: The Slynx).

I have invaded the football pitch at St Mary's more than once and can recite most of the seminal movie 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off'.

Check out some of my favourite books here.

Kate Double

99% of the time I read contemporary fiction. My ideal novel has beautiful but understated language, a dark sense of humour, and numerous interesting and well-drawn narrators.

Characters are really important to me in a novel, I like reading about people that are untrustworthy, unpredictable, that have good intentions, and that find themselves out of their depth, but most of all I like characters to be completely believable.

My favourite places to read are in the bath, in bed, or best of all in the sunshine. I'm quite an intense reader, I like reading when there are no time constraints, and if I'm really engrossed in a book I'll happily read the whole thing in one sitting. I never re-read books if I've enjoyed them, but I sometimes give a book I've disliked a second chance

I love taking long showers and I have an exceptional memory for song lyrics.

Libby Harris

I read whenever I get the chance; in the bath, on the train, I have even mastered the art of reading while walking (keeping one eye out for oncoming traffic). I am ashamed to admit that no book stays pristine in my presence for long; I have a habit of breaking spines and folding pages to mark my place. All of my books have to endure being manhandled into my handbag and often reappear slightly worse for wear.

The most important thing in a book for me is a good story and I am pretty open as to what kind. For example I am a massive Daphne Du Maurier fan but I also love Harry Potter! I usually like a lot of help when picking out my next book from the rest of Team B which results in long discussions long after closing time.

I love sniffing books while I read them (I am Official Booksmeller at Mr B's), cheesy dance movies and quiche.

Check out some of my favourite books here.

Becky Milford

I can't remember a time when books weren't an integral part of my life. My early years were spent convinced I was part otter due to an obsession with The Animals of Farthing Wood and Redwall. I wore my hair in plaits inspired by Mildred Hubble throughout the whole of Junior school. I even entertained a brief acceptance of spiders after crying over Charlotte's Web.

These days my taste is just as eclectic, and I like to think my martini-addiction is simply due to a love of the 1930's  - Christie, Waugh, Gibbons and Mitford to name a few. Who doesn't love a glass of well-deserved bubbly at 3pm before dressing for dinner?

When I'm not eating crumpets and cuddling up with a JG Farrell novel I like to dance, preferably on/under tables (shoes optional), and I get freaked out when people bend their ears backwards. I write short stories, a couple of which have been published or won awards  - come in and ask about/publish them!

Check out some of my favourite books here.

Harvey Packham

What? -Fiction, Philosophy, Poetry, Travel, Psychology, History (and even Lit Crit), from Flashman to Kant, Dostoevsky to Winterson, pastoral-comical to poem unlimited.

Why? - I agree with Smith - "people say that life is the thing, but I prefer reading".   Schopenhauer considered that "much reading...makes most men more stupid and foolish than they are by nature".  Fortunately, Readers, he added that one can never read too little of bad, or too much of good books.

How, where, when? - I love reading in the bath, or on trains or buses in exotic countries.  Or by a fire.  Or on top of a mountain.  Or on a bridge.  Or when it's raining outside.  Or in the middle of a crowd or an uproar.  Or in a theatre during the interval.  Really just anywhere that's not wet, cold, or uncomfortable.

Who would I be? - The Count of Monte Cristo or Woland, or perhaps Arjuna.  Maybe Svejk or Professor Higgins.

Actually? - A mix of Dostoevsky's Underground man, Candide, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.

Check out some of my favourite books here.

Ed Scotland

My love of books began early as mum bombarded me with great age appropriate stuff, dad read to me from a series of wildly inappropriate texts and I filled in the gaps with 2000AD. All their good work was almost undone thanks to my woeful schooling and personal bloody-mindedness.

Having given up on books it was a chance encounter with Raymond Chandler that set me back on the path and instilled in me a life long devotion to quality pulp writing. My touchstone for bookselling is 84 Charing Cross Road, for parenting Atticus Finch, for photography Eugene Smith, for psychosis Jim Thompson, for poetry Laurie Lee, for wisecracking Philip Marlowe, and for gravitas Borges.

When not at work, I relish the opportunity to read inappropriate stuff to my three small daughters and long to hear them say those three little words "who is Batman?"

Check out some of my favourite books here.

Vlashka

I am a dog and therefore do not read. I am immensely keen on dog biscuits and can be found at the shop on most Wednesday afternoons. Check out some of my favourite biscuits here: