A gold-digger of literature in a bookstore did this to me

Nobuhle who works at Exclusive Books (Cresta mall) is the leading gold-digger of literature which is buried in the books right now. I kid you not.

'I have read 208 books in one year,' she said looking into my awe-struck face I nearly forgot to pay for Down 2nd Avenue (Es’kia Mphahlele) which I had gone in to collect. She mentioned books by Chinua Achebe, Ngugi wa Thiongo, Tsitsi Dangarembga and Zakes Mda. She praised Redi Tlhabi, McIntosh Polela and  Bonnie Henna for writing books she could relate to.

Even Dan Brown (The Da Vinci Code), about whom she proceeded to grab his newly released thick book, Inferno, from the shelf near the entrance and said ‘I knew long before it came out that he was writing it.’ To which I asked: How did you know that?
‘I google my favourite authors; I write to them; I ask them what they are working on,’ she said.
Nobuhle even introduced me to the likes of Waiting for the Rains (Charles Mungoshi) and Americana (Chimamanda Adiche) who also wrote Half of The Sun as well as Purple Hibiscus.

How did you end up working at the bookstore? I asked her.
'After finishing matric, I just wanted to be at a place where I could access many books.'
She is a first year law student at Wits. I asked her if she would like to write books.
'Nooooo,' she said with a shy smile, 'I prefer to read than to write. But I have published 6 short stories in Drum magazine... but that was a long time ago.'
I was clutching at the book shelves on my way out. Dizzying conversation I've had.