Fifty-eighth book of 2020
Reading period: July 19th 2020 – July 22th 2020
Summary
Shaun Bythell owns The Bookshop, Wigtown – Scotland’s largest second-hand bookshop. It contains 100,000 books, spread over a mile of shelving, with twisting corridors and roaring fires, and all set in a beautiful, rural town by the edge of the sea. A book-lover’s paradise? Well, almost …
In these wry and hilarious diaries, Shaun provides an inside look at the trials and tribulations of life in the book trade, from struggles with eccentric customers to wrangles with his own staff, who include the ski-suit-wearing, bin-foraging Nicky. He takes us with him on buying trips to old estates and auction houses, recommends books (both lost classics and new discoveries), introduces us to the thrill of the unexpected find, and evokes the rhythms and charms of small-town life, always with a sharp and sympathetic eye.
Rating
Review
I bought this book a little randomly as I wanted to read a memoir. The things that attract me was the word “bookseller” in the title and the cat on the cover.
I didn’t connect with the main characters at all. I prefered the clients even if some of them forgot to respect the bookseller. There was one person that I was fed up with, and it was Nicky.
This book was interesting to read as you have a testimony about the impact that Amazon and other big retailers have on the independent booksellers.
Liz.
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