The Diary of a Bookseller by Shaun Bythell

A WRY AND HILARIOUS ACCOUNT OF LIFE AT A BOOKSHOP IN A REMOTE SCOTTISH VILLAGE "Among the most irascible and amusing bookseller memoirs I've read." --Dwight Garner, New York Times "Warm, witty and laugh-out-loud funny..."—Daily Mail The Diary of a Bookseller is Shaun Bythell's funny and fascinating memoir of a year in the life at the helm of The Bookshop, in the small village of Wigtown, Scotland—and of the delightfully odd locals, unusual staff, eccentric customers, and surreal buying trips that make up his life there as he struggles to build his business . . . and be polite . . . When Bythell first thought of taking over the store, it seemed like a great idea: The Bookshop is Scotland's largest second-hand store, with over one hundred thousand books in a glorious old house with twisting corridors and roaring fireplaces, set in a tiny, beautiful town by the sea. It seemed like a book-lover's paradise . . . Until Bythell did indeed buy the store. In this wry and hilarious diary, he tells us what happened next—the trials and tribulations of being a small businessman; of learning that customers can be, um, eccentric; and of wrangling with his own staff of oddballs (such as ski-suit-wearing, dumpster-diving Nicky). And perhaps none are quirkier than the charmingly cantankerous bookseller Bythell himself turns out to be. But then too there are the buying trips to old estates and auctions, with the thrill of discovery, as well as the satisfaction of pressing upon people the books that you love . . . Slowly, with a mordant wit and keen eye, Bythell is seduced by the growing charm of small-town life, despite —or maybe because of—all the peculiar characters there.

Hilarious, clever and thought-provoking. The irony of reading a library copy bound in plastic and covered in stamps. The diary gave me a fresh respect for those involved in the book trade. I hope they all have a wonderfully irritating and quirky ‘Nicky' as an assistant, to keep life interesting.

Great inside into the world of Second hand book trade. I loved the humour, sharp and dry.

"Some people just want you to know what their reading habits are, and have no intention of buying anything."

I work at a library, and while we don't sell books, I do see a lot of the same behaviors in library patrons as Shaun Bythell does in his bookshop in Wigtown. The patrons who want you to know what they're interested in without actually checking anything out, the kids who shove perfectly faced books to the back of the shelves, the colorful regulars, the list goes on and on. To that end, I found a lot to identify with and find humor in in this book.

As I said, Shaun Bythell owns The Bookshop in Wigtown, Scotland, the world's largest second-hand bookshop. He started keeping a diary in February of 2014 of all the notable interactions, observations, and events that happen in his bookshop, as well as some of the daily tasks that keep a second-hand bookshop running. It is a diary format, so it's not so much a story as it is a day-by-day account of the shop, which I appreciated. You get to know the staff, the regulars, the sort of clientele he sees on a seasonal basis, and a sense of how the shop operates and the struggles he goes through keeping the doors open and the lights on. It's not easy being in the book trade in the age of Amazon.

He's a sarcastic man, and it's clear that doesn't rub everyone the right way. I appreciate his sense of humor and wry observations of people around him, but some people might find it mean spirited. It's clear he enjoys what he does or he wouldn't be doing it, and one can poke fun at the people around oneself while also being pleasant. It's not all sunshine and roses in the retail industry, no matter the country.

There's evidently more in the series, presumably more diaries from proceeding years. I look forward to reading them all.