Betsy Burton

Charming and enthusiastically written memoir of the The King's English bookstore of Salt Lake City, Utah. Betsy Burton gives us a glimpse into the life of an independent bookstore owner through her amusing anecdotes, painful life lessons, and moments with known and little known authors. Her passion for books and the people she serves are clear through her words. She writes so vividly of her partners, employees, book reps, authors, customers, and the many experiences with them. Bookselling show more drove her life, and you can understand why by reading this book. show less

I'm all for books and independent booksellers so I thought I would like this book more than I did. There are some interesting stories about some of the writers who have come to Burton's bookshop to read, there are lots of shorter tidbits about a variety of writers, which I found useful for considering new writers to read. And especially useful is the list Burton provides at the end of each chapter with recommended titles, which she expands on at the end with recommended titles by an show more assortment of other independent bookshops across the country. I was reminded of writers I read years ago, like Ivan Doig and Wallace Stegner whom I'd like to read again, and others, such as Tony Hillerman and Walter Satterthwaite whom I've never read but will soon. But there was something about Burton, maybe it's her writing style, that didn't agree with me. For one thing, too many parenthetical comments; for another, the use of expressions such as "fast forward two years" to change the time of a story she's telling -- a clumsy method, in my opinion, and finally many instances of too many words when fewer would do. show less

This is the true story of a bookstore, told by the woman who loves books and who started it as a labor of love. She describes the stores many ups and downs, the many events they had with authors, and the many wonderful books that they had the privelidge of promoting through the years. This is a booklovers delight to read, I even found the lists of their favorite books from the different eras or different genres interesting. It also shows the reader the value of independent bookstores, as show more places run by people who are really passionate about books and readers. Book lovers--you will truly enjoy this one. Non-book lovers--get thee to an independent bookstore, where the staff will find you something that even you will like to read and you just may be converted to a true bibliophile. show less

I found this a very enjoyable read, and as an initiation into the world of bookstores, managed to be both informative and entertaining. The author's did not gloss over the difficulty of running a bookstore, which funnily enough made me want to have my own bookstore all the more.