#WeRead: Witpoortjie resident shares his love of books and reading

Being retrenched is never easy for anyone, and if you are still young and strong enough to work, it can be an especially bitter pill to swallow.

This was the case with 55-year-old Paul Botha six years ago when he found himself unemployed at age 49. “I felt lost and did not know what to do to put food on the table. I put my knowledge, passion and love for reading and books to good use and started working at a local bookstore. I soon realised that I would love to have my own ‘shop’ where I would be able to share my passion with the community,” he said.

He added that he discussed it with his wife, Marlene, and Uncle Paul’s bookshop was born. “We had some extra rooms available as our children had left home already, and before we knew it, the decision was made and put into motion! It was a quick and impulsive decision!” he said, with a twinkle in his eye.

The bookshop became a reality a few weeks before the nationwide lockdown was announced, and Paul said that this brought with it its own challenges. “I was so excited for the community to visit me and start sharing this love and passion of mine, but with the lockdown and accompanying regulations I was not too sure exactly how to go about. I could not allow anyone to come and browse the books, let alone acquire some, so I had to improvise.” Paul started to reach out on social media platforms by posting photos of the books he had in stock, and before he knew it, he had an instant online customer base as everyone wanted something to keep themselves busy.

“I believe it is because people were forced to slow down during this time and had to keep themselves busy, so they either rediscovered their love of reading, or discovered it for the first time, making the demand for good books quite high,” Paul said. They initially received a lot of book donations, which helped them getting started, but they quickly had to start buying books to stay ahead. “I would like to encourage the community to donate their unwanted books (in a good condition). I also buy books, and offer a trade-in option, where customers will receive a discount towards their next purchase.”Paul said that to strengthen his message to people to read more, he also donates some of the books to the youngsters in the community.

“I firmly believe that reading develops your brain, helps build a bigger and wider vocabulary, betters your communication, thinking and debating skills, relieves stress and takes you to worlds where you have never been by kick-starting your imagination. I encourage parents to read to their children, because a child that reads, become an adult who thinks.

“His favourite authors are Deon Meyer and Chris Karsten, and he expained, “Their books are well-researched crime novels. Karsten’s non-ficition books offer the reader a look into the mind of a criminal and how they thought about the crime they committed.”Because of his love of reading, it was quite difficult for him to recommend only one or two books as must-reads, and he said, “If I must give only a few titles, I believe everyone should read The Life of Pi (much better than the movie), the Harry Potter series (books for the whole family, no matter your age), The Clifton Chronicles by Jeffrey Archer, The Kite Runner which is a true life story written by Khaled Hasseini, and the shocking, supposedly tell-all Lost Boys of Bird Island.”

For more information, contact Paul on 076 987 1214 or 083 256 4615. Alternatively, visit his Facebook page.