Confessions of a Bookseller

This is the second volume in Shaun Bythell’s diaries about running The Book Shop in Wigtown, Scotland. I found that the first volume contained more hilarious incidents; this one is more contemplative as Shaun turns 45 and reflects on his life so far. But there are still occasions to chuckle as Shaun goes on book-buying expeditions; accommodates a live-in summer helper whose eccentricities rival and cancel out those of his primary assistant, Nicky; and tests his patience mightily with some of the sillier things customers say. My favourite “character”, if one can have a favourite character in stories about real people, is “Mole-Man”, the quiet and voracious reader who comes in, scuttles around collecting a variety of interesting show more books, pays, and leaves. Shaun likes him because he never attempts to engage him in conversation.

This volume also features walk-on appearances by people running The Open Book, a bookstore with an Airbnb above it where you can rent the Airbnb and run the bookstore for a week. That would be a lot of fun or very stressful—I think I’d want to deliberately choose a low-traffic time of year, rather than, say, Wigtown Book Festival time.

I’d recommend this if you liked the first volume of Shaun’s diaries, if you like books about booksellers, or if you fantasize about running your own bookshop—this might cure you of the rosier delusions :) show less

The second collection of Shaun Bythell's diaries about the day-to-day running of his secondhand bookshop in Scotland. It's very much the same stuff as in Diary of a Bookseller: lots of mundane details about what books he's bought or sold interspersed with relatable complaints about customers, descriptions of quirky employees, and glimpses of life in small bookish town. I didn't find it quite as inexplicably absorbing as the first volume; possibly there's a limit to just how many times I'm happy to read an account of how many books he bought from who for how much, or a note that the online ordering system has crashed again, or whatever. But it's still somehow a much more pleasant read than it seems like it should be, and strangely show more restful on the brain (even none of it may have been particularly restful to Mr. Bythell). show less

Not quite as good as The diary of a a bookseller but nevertheless really good. The star, apart from the author, is Emanuela, the Italian placement trainee, more affectionately called Granny. As well as very funny, the book is also informative about the book trade, books themselves and the Galloway life and landscape. I look forward to the next one.

In this installment of the Bookseller series (okay, I know it's not officially a series, but whatever), life goes on at The Bookshop in Wigtown. I felt like this book holds more personal details than the original book, as Shaun mentions the deterioration of his relationship, the death of a friend, and the loss of a colleague, in more intimate terms than would be expected from such a sardonic fellow. I suppose it's only natural, since his readers have now seen quite a lot of his day to day life, which is really more profound than how we're used to hearing about people's lives, such as on social media, where only the most extreme highs and lows are highlighted. The things I love about these books are the mundane details -- maybe it's show more because as a cataloger, details are my stock in trade -- such as the daily till totals, and which of the rotating cast of characters has shown up in the shop that day. I write a short journal entry every evening as I'm unwinding, possibly as a way of unburdening my mind as I prepare for sleep, and maybe that is why I'm attracted to the format of this book, since that's basically what Shaun does (and I call him by his first name because I feel like I know him). I think I said after I read the first book that I want to go to Wigtown and visit his shop, and be the ideal patron that, well, even if he didn't love me on sight (I don't think that's possible, for him), at least wouldn't bug him too much. I still feel that way. I hope we get to read more about the shop, though I suspect life over there has changed a little, since these books were published. All the more interesting! show less

It sounds perfect, a mile of bookshelves, 100,000 books to choose from, open fires, a bookshop cat and when you have selected your purchases then you can take a walk down to the sea to sit and read them. This place can be found in Scotland’s book town, Wigtown, and if you were a visitor you’d hope that the proprietor, Shawn Bythell would be pleased to see every customer who walked in the door. Well, he is, sometimes, but he often isn’t…

“Do you have a list of your books, or do I just have to stare at them?”

Inundated with requests from customers that range from the regular requests for a particular copy of a book, people wanting to take selfies with the kindle to the slightly strange and often the outright bizarre requests show more from customers who really are not engaging their brains before opening their mouths. He also has to battle with those that think nothing of selecting a number of books off the shelf, coming up to the counter and then offering a paltry sum for the books that they want. No one would think of doing that in any other shop, so why should he be different.

He is still buying collections of books, from people who think that their value is far and above what he is prepared to pay. And every now and again he finds a gem of a book in those collections, however, I never cease to be amazed just how many he takes to be pulped. He lists the book via Amazon and Abe books, and while I can see that if a book listed will get snapped up, he frequently gets a book in the day after someone has asked for it…

Amazon is the bane of his life. The Monsoon system that they have to use to sell through Amazon seems not to work most of the time. They don’t get the orders, so, therefore, have no way of knowing what to ship and the customer rightly complains that they haven’t had the book yet. It makes the shop look bad, even though they are not at fault in any way and Amazon berates them and holds onto their money for longer.

On top of all that he has to cope with belligerent staff, one of whom has a unique way of stacking the books on the shelves and around the shop and he is assisted by an Italian lady who is working for free but gets board and lodgings. His home fills up with people during the festival, bits of the wall fall off the building and he has a few hangovers to cope with. I thought that this was a really good follow up to his first book, Diary of a Bookseller. It is hilarious at times and occasionally quite melancholy. He is not afraid to talk about the problems facing those in the new and second-hand book trade and the massive problems caused by Amazon. I liked the way that he shows his daily takings and the books ordered online compared to those found. So go missing because of customers and others because of erratic filing… Somehow through all of this he manages to only be slightly sarcastic some of the time, exasperated most of the time and I have this sneaky feeling that he wouldn’t be anywhere else. show less

Shaun Bythell has become one of my favorite authors. Confessions of a Bookseller is about a year in the life of an owner of a used bookshop in Scotland. It follows his ups, downs, and the crazy events of his daily life in the bookshop. Filled with many humorous stories of his staff, customers, and his cat. Most who work in libraries may be able to relate to his adventures like customers asking for a book, and, then explaining why they need it, or the customer who commented about that there are only books in the shop. If you want to laugh, read this book.

I received a free review copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest unedited feedback.

If you enjoyed the first in this series ("Diary of a Bookseller"), then you will enjoy this one, as it is more of the same. I enjoyed both: I liked Shaun and his weary tolerance of badly behaved customers and disobedient staff. There are also sections about the local area and about the business of bookselling, which are very interesting. I found there was a little repetition (although it helps to be reminded who people we encountered months ago are, occasionally they were reintroduced after a day or so) and the cast became a little overwhelming towards the end, especially during the festival, but these are minor quibbles.

I hope he show more goes on writing these. show less