Our Team

Bleak House Books is owned and operated by the husband-and-wife duo, Albert Wan and Jenny Smith.

Our bios:

Albert Wan

Albert is an ex-lawyer who once had a solo practice in Atlanta, Georgia, handling civil rights and criminal cases. In December 2016, Albert and Jenny, and their two kids, Charlie and Ida, moved to Hong Kong. It was at this time that Albert decided to try a new gig, and bookselling sounded like an interesting idea. Seven years later, he's still at it.

Albert misses Hong Kong a ton but is enjoying his time in his new home in Honeoye Falls, New York. When Albert's not cleaning books, tidying bookshelves, or having a 6 o'clock beer at the bookshop, he's usually at home tending to his menagerie of two puppies (Vera and Scout), three rabbits (Sweet Pea, Wolverine, Thumper), one barn cat (Mittens), and eleven chickens (only a few have names: Chocolate-tina, Sidekick, and Guru).

His favorite writer is still George Orwell.

Jenny Smith

Jenny is an ex-college professor who knows a lot about the history of spam (the meat type, not the email type). In her free time she enjoys walking naughty puppies and chasing chickens. Her favorite authors are Octavia Butler, Haruki Murakami and Jane Austen. At Bleak House Books she tries to keep the plants alive and the nonfiction sections in working order.

Charlie and Ida

On occasion, our two kids, Charlie and Ida can be found at the bookshop as well, doing various bookshop tasks (need your windows washed? talk to Chuck!) or just lounging around reading books (we have lots of those!).

Vera the shop dog

Just like every town needs a bookshop, every bookshop needs a shop dog. Thankfully, we have a good and cuddly one in Vera, a double-doodle. Vera likes belly rubs and long naps by the front door of the bookshop. Woof!