Lidia Toneva, a street book-seller, is awaiting May 24, a Bulgarian holiday celebrating Cyrillic writing and culture, with mixed feelings. According to her, this is one of the brightest holidays. But, on the other hand, she thinks Bulgarians have lost their ability to respect and to celebrate most of the national holidays.

"Financial poverty, which is widely spread, has lead to spiritual poverty," explained Lidia.

Sixty-year-old Toneva has been in the book trading business for 15 years now. She worked as an economist in a factory for 27 years, but a couple of years after the political changes in the country, she quit her job and started her new business.

She and her husband used to have a small bookstore and a place at the Slaveikov book market. But since 2002 she has sold books near Sofia University.

High rent was the reason for this transfer. At some point, it became unbearable for small businesses like Toneva's.

Now you can find Lidia and her books near the Academy of Art, on the street opposite Sofia University. She's still fighting for a vendor's permit at her old venue, near the university, where she claims "the reading people" pass.

So far, she has received only one answer from the authorities - books cannot be sold around the university. Lidia finds this absurd, seeing all the snacks and clothing sold there every day.

When it comes to books, she offers mainly fiction. Love, crime, history, some classics, and "modern authors" such as Dan Brown and Paulo Coelho, for example. The seller tries to satisfy any taste, despite the limited space.

Her experience shows that crimes are being eaten up like hot cakes by Bulgarian readers at the moment. The sales of esoteric books have also increased.

"People's lives are very difficult these days, that's why they're reading such books - they are hoping to find the answers for their faith inside" is Lidia's explanation for this tendency.

In principle, Boulevard romantic novels are considered to be low class literature, but some of Lidia's regular clients who buy these kind of books are highly educated and work in serious professions, like lawyers and university professors. The book-seller's "surveys" indicate that they use the "light" books as a way to relax in their busy everyday life.

"In principle, Bulgarians love books and reading, but most of them cannot afford to buy books," said sadly Lidia.

However, Toneva doesn't consider books to be an anachronism. In the era of computers, digital technologies and global communications she thinks they still have their place.

"I'm still seeing the affect of reading. Take my own son, for instance," said Lidia. "Even though my home is full of books, my younger son was in front of the computer most of the time, and books weren't a passion of his," she explained. "Recently, he started to enjoy reading very much and I can see how this is changing him as a person, how it develops his thinking…"

To her, books are strong educating tools and something unique that everybody should discover and experience for themselves.
One of her favourite authors is Remarque and she loves reading him over and over again.

Lidia grew up during Socialist times in Bulgaria, when Russian literature was more than welcomed. Maybe that's why she only appreciates classical titles, and confesses she doesn't understand the contemporary authors.

However, she respects every taste. "I think there is a time and place for any kind of book and the best book for each one of us is different," said Lidia.