This is the third book I read by Shaun Bythell. In "The Diary of a Bookseller", he introduces us to his second-hand bookshop in Wigtown, Scotland and his quirky customers. In "Confessions of a Bookseller", he gives us an overview of a whole year and carries on in his sarcastic way to describe everyone he comes across.
I love the title. So, apparently, you can find seven kinds of people in bookshops. I kept wondering the whole time where I might fit in. Only to find out to wards the end, that I seem to belong to the "normal people". How boring. Mind you, I wouldn't have wanted to be considered a loiterer, my family is definitely not young anymore, I don't have a beard, I'm also not an expert on anything and hope I don't annoy people with telling them about the books I read or the subjects in them - well, I have a blog for that and can discuss those issues with other readers who are interested in the same stuff. But still … normal???
Well, to me, like to most of the other bloggers, I suppose, a bookshop is there to explore. Of course, sometimes I am looking for a certain book and will enquire accordingly. But most often, I just like to browse - and I will always find something. So, I am glad, booksellers appreciate customers like me.
Shaun Bythell is one of the most hilarious people I have come to know through my reading and I was happy to find out that he has married in the meantime and they started their young family.
As in my reviews of the first book, I am happy to lead you to his blog website The Bookshop and his blog. If you don't decide to buy his books after that, I can't help you.
The author is just as funny, witty and sarcastic as in his other books. Can't wait for his next one, "Remainders of the Day: More Diaries from The Bookshop, Wigtown" to come out in paperback.
From the back cover:
"Between its covers, a book can contain a whole world. And, at one time or another, the whole world comes to a bookshop - so step inside to find:
The Conspiracy Theorist
The Exhausted Parents
The Whistler
The Dark Artist
The Loiterer without Intent
The Craft Enthusiast
The Bore
And many more …
In twenty years behind the till in The Bookshop, Wigtown, Shaun Bythell has met pretty much every kind of customer there is - from the charming, erudite and deep-pocketed to the eccentric, flatulent and possibly larcenous.
In Seven Kinds of People You Find in Bookshops he distils the essence of his experience into a warm, witty and quirky taxonomy of the book-loving public. So, step inside to meet the crafty Antiquarian, the shy and retiring Erotica Browser and gormless yet strangely likeable shop assistant Student Hugo - along with much loved bookseller favourites like the passionate Sci-Fi Fan, the voracious Railway Collector and the ever-elusive Perfect Customer."
I'd love to visit Wigtown someday and browse all the bookshops there. Until then I can at least enjoy Bythell's books. :D
ReplyDeleteIt's at the top of my wishlist for when we visit Scotland the next time.
DeleteI just reserved it for my husband at the library.
ReplyDeleteOoooh, I'm looking forward to hearing how he likes it, Eva.
DeleteI will let you know!
DeleteThanks.
DeleteHe did not have time to read it then, but I gave him a copy for his birthday. Hopefully, he will get to read it soon.
DeleteGreat, so he can read it whenever he has time.
DeleteHe has read more than half and likes it. He can read it in between serious readings :).
DeleteThat's great, Eva.
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