The Diary of a Bookseller by Shaun Bythell

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 Bookselling Bliss

What a joy this book was!  I loved being invited into Shaun Bythell’s daily life as a bookseller in Scotland. His dry humor and deadpan observations had me smiling and even laughing out loud page after page. 


A couple of people I work with at the Well-Read Moose bookstore in Coeur d'Alene read it before I did and highly recommended it.  They were so right!  Good choice.


Here are a couple quotes to entice you: 


·    “As I was leaving [the barber shop], I met Mr. Deacon coming in for whatever treatment he has applied to his comb-over.” Pg 155


·    Anna talked Shaun into going to Glasgow to see the Disney film Into the Woods. “This is my idea of hell: I dislike musicals and I’m no fan of Disney, so the combination of the two will unquestionably result in a film that is the cinematic equivalent of a week in the waterboarding wing of Guantánamo Bay.” Pg 285


·    “…bookshops—mine in any case—can be bitterly cold places in winter. Mine not because of the risk of windows misting up, but rather because it is a vast, doorless place with little insulation and draughts that whistle through it like the spirits of dead writers.” Pg 307  


·    “She must have doused herself thoroughly in a perfume so utterly and horribly choking that I can only assume that it was developed in a chemical weapons laboratory by a sadistic scientist during the Cold War.” –about a customer  Pg 304


There are so many amusing moments in this book that I can't possibly list them all here.  You'll just have to read it to find out what "Chicken of the Woods" is; why a boat quickly pulled away from the boat Callum was on; or about the old lady's farting incident. 

Happy Reading 😆
Annette

Comments

Marianne said…
I absolutely loved both The Diary of a Bookseller" and Confessions of a bookseller.
I had such a pleasure to read them both and am glad you enjoyed them as much as I did.
November 28, 2022 at 7:00 AM
Reading in the Garden said…
That book was like finding a treasure! So fun. I have not read Confessions of a Bookseller, but I should put it on my list. Good to hear from you, Marianne. Hope all is well. :)
November 29, 2022 at 11:07 AM
Marianne said…
Definitely a treasure. And the second one is just as great.

Thanks for asking. I'm as well as I can do with ups and downs but I enjoy whatever I can. Hope you are doing well, also.
December 2, 2022 at 5:39 AM
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