Before I get to the post, on the topic of bookstores, later this month I will be conducting a Q&A with the hilarious, wonderful Johanna Stein at Women and Children First on the topic of her new book How Not to Calm a Child on a Plane: And Other Lessons in Parenting from a Highly Questionable Source. I hope you come!

Some facets of bookstore etiquette can be learned from "Seinfeld" episodes: don't take unpurchased books into the restrooms. Don't steal. But for the other, subtler do's and dont's of bookstore etiquette, I called up my friend Suzy Takacs, owner of The Book Cellar, my favorite independent bookstore in Chicago. Suzy wanted to stress that she doesn't have many complaints about her client base and is happy for every customer who comes through her door, but after consulting with her employees, there were a few pet peeves she wanted to address:

1.) Don't talk on the phone while checking out. Or while walking around the store, for that matter. "Not cool," says Suzy.

2.) Don't take photos of products you intend to buy elsewhere. Suzy occasionally sees customers snapping pictures of book barcodes that they then order online from a different bookseller. Why would somebody bother coming into an independent bookstore just to turn around and order from someplace else? "They like our recommendations," Suzy explains.

3.) Do not let your children chew/throw or tear books, but on the off-chance that it happens, buy the books. Suzy sees parents put damaged books back "all the time." At least with the ones with a torn dust jacket, she can still sell them for 30% off, but with a chewed-up book? It's at a loss to her and the store.

4.) Do not put your feet on the store's furniture. Suzy didn't say it but I will: don't be gross. A bookstore isn't your house.

5.) Don't use the book store as your personal office. "Please don't buy one coffee and then stay for four hours," Suzy asks nicely.

6.) Do not become angry with bookstore employees because they're not mind readers. "Sometimes someone will come into the store and say, 'What was the book you had on the front table a month ago? It had a yellow cover,' and then be mad at me for not being able to figure it out!" says Suzy. While she honestly "likes the puzzle" of figuring out what a customer wants, the customer can't assume an employee has a brain like Google.

7.) If you come to a reading hosted by the bookstore, be a pal and buy a book at the store. They took the time to book the author, reserve the space, set up the chairs and buy extra inventory, so you could be nice and buy the book from them (if you want it, that is.)