Sara Nelson

Well, what I guess I remember best is the joyous and slightly wild camaraderie that would take place staying late in the evenings to conduct chats. I particularly remember Sean Doorly and me giggling our way through a very rambling interview with Hunter S. Thompson. I also remember a lot of discussion about how to handle complicated issues like books about the OJ trial and, of course, reporting on Princess Diana's death.  

Mostly, I remember sitting with Nilou and Jen and playing the sort of parlor game that only really insanely obsessive book people would play or care about. Not just "Did you ever read?" but quizzing each other on what other books a certain author wrote, or how two authors were connected (I remember being thrilled, just thrilled, to figure out that Andre Dubus and James Lee Burke were related!). We were on a wavelength with each other --- and with our most loyal readers --- that one rarely finds with colleagues on a job.

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Jennifer Levitsky

Best Moments:

Interviewing Judy Blume, Carl Hiaasen (the handsomest and funniest writer on the planet), Elmore Leonard, and too many more of my favorites to count!

Reading three books in one day and having that count as work, so long as I wrote reviews too.

Meeting --- virtually --- loads of voracious readers who can talk nonstop about their favorite and least favorite books. And realizing that print is not dead.

Not having to buy a book for 3 years (the two I worked at TBR plus the one it took me to read all the books I'd hauled home).

Attending the National Book Awards and somehow finagling (with Sara Nelson) a seat at a too-expensive-for-TBR table on the main floor, instead of staying in the press box. Studs Terkel spoke that year. Wow.

Funniest Moments:

Learning that Tom Clancy --- the Tom Clancy --- was indeed in the chat room.

Worst Moment:

Realizing how many wonderful books and authors there are out there that I can't possibly get to in this lifetime.

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Julia Dubner

I think my favorite part of my stint at TBR was coming into contact with all the people who were excited about our site simply because they loved books and treasured the opportunity to talk about them with other readers. They didn't care about dot coms or new media per se . . . they just adored the written word and wanted to share their enthusiasm. I was truly amazed at the online community that TBR helped to bring together.

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Sean Doorly

Logging onto AOL for the first time with only a 2400 connection at my old job to get my first screen name so I could start work for my new job at The Book Report.

Having my first day of work at Jainee MacCarroll's apartment (the N.Y. office was still under construction) where we sat on the floor and leafed through book catalogs --- picking the ones we wanted to write reviews for.

Being amazed at Jesse's ability to both interview an author and transcribe their answers with his patented two-finger "punch the keys" method. Please note that the rest of TBR staffers, including me, would need an interviewer and a typist. And Jesse still types this way. I hear it all day (see below).

Staying late one night so I could do my first real celebrity interview with James Doohan (Scotty). And Jesse was the typist.

Being able to call William Shatner "Bill" while interviewing him with Nilou and having Bill hit on Nilou over the phone.

Meeting Kurt Vonnegut with Sara Nelson at his house for a book party. Wow.

Being amazed that Jennifer could read an entire book in an hour while everyone in the office was talking.

Interviewing Harlan Ellison while Jennifer typed. Before the interview Harlan sent us pages of answers to frequently asked questions he didn't want to answer again. We posted them before the interview started. During the interview, he griped that he should have typed for himself --- saying it would have been faster. A one-time half-hour interview turned into a week-long dialogue about the interview with Harlan on the phone. During this entire time I have the biggest smile on my face, because he's one of my all-time favorite authors and nothing he could say would upset me. Cost: priceless.

Really looking forward to the weekly installments of TBR's serialization of QUEEN'S GAMBIT by Walter Tevis and talking about it with Jennifer. We could have read the whole book but wanted to read it in serial form. It was more fun that way. I now own all the books Tevis has ever written.

Working with some really wonderful and nice people who I still talk to this day and some I even work with. Jesse sits five feet from me at my new job at AOL Music.

Working the New York Is Book Country street fair and handing out TBR bags with Carol in September 1997. I still have one of the bags.

A tearful farewell with Carol in her car in front of the Port Authority bus terminal on my last day of work. A side note, Carol was the whole reason I became a member of the TBR family. Carol's mom and Carol are friends with my fiance's mother, Carolyn Gretchen, who put me in contact with Carol. Thank you to all for putting me down this path. Thanks to TBR I have been working in the Internet biz for five years now.

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Nilou Motamed

My favorite memories of TBR are definitely of having worked with such a great group of people --- both in the office and "virtually." And that our readers were as passionate about books and ideas as all of us were.

I loved fresh flowers from Jesse on my desk every Monday, reading for a living, and playing balloon dodge ball as a stress-reliever every once in a while.

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Dana Schwartz

Favorite moment: Meeting Judy Blume at Gracie Mansion the night before the National Book Awards and discovering that two of my all time favorite Blume books were also hers. Ah, the awe!

Tied for favorite moment: At the National Book Awards...Reeling from love when Laurie Halse Anderson (author of SPEAK) told me that she and her husband thought my interview questions were some of the best she received. (blush, stammer, blush)

Hands down most embarrassing moment: At the National Book Awards (surprise!) introducing myself to Louise Erdrich who I mistook for Laurie Halse Anderson. (doh!)

Biggest save: At the National Book Awards, after humiliating myself in front of the very gracious Erdrich, I managed to scrape my self-esteem off the floor by complementing her book, also nominated for an award.

Most talking done in one day (three years in a row): New York Is Book Country street fair.

Best smorgasbord in the Fisk Building (where TBR has its offices): My 24th birthday, complete with the requisite chocolate cake and the yummiest olive spread.

Scariest invention ever: eBooks

Best benefits: The wonderful people I met and all those free books!!!

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Krista Madsen

First off, there's the overflowing ever-abundant Book Table --- books sent from publishers awaiting our nod for review --- which actually collapsed from time to time, *forcing* us to pick through the rubble for our favorites. And yes, we did learn with such mass quantity to contend with that one must judge a book by its cover...and if the author's name covers half the front, then the book does suck. A few of my now favorite authors were first met here: Laura Kashische, Allesandro Barricco, etc.

I loved hanging with our younger crowd on Teenreads.com, writing the weekly newsletter and making like a 13-year-old. "Yer kewl" is something you really can't hear often enough in this life. And if we reviewed a book about their latest boyband, they did tend to think that a certain Backstreet Boy or N'Syncer must work in our office, and would you please pass him my name, address, phone, etc...

There's nothing like a promo/poll challenge to keep me alliterating and rhyming and talking in tongues for hours. I will forever miss such tasks as filling two lines with five spaces of something snappy about the latest author interview on our front screen. Better than Scrabble.

And of course, there's the people --- both online, offline, and especially that particularly mad breed of booklovers who reside in the office, who really made my experience at TBR special. Among so many run-ins with authors, one special one that stands out was the office appearance of WHITE OLEANDER's Janet Fitch (of Oprah fame), whose young daughter promptly started writing reviews for Kidsreads. It's a family affair...

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