The Diary of a Bookseller

Shaun Bythell’s THE DIARY OF A BOOKSELLER is laugh out loud funny. The author is the owner of a second-hand bookshop called The Book Shop, in the rural town of Wigtown, Scotland. The book is a daily account about the books that he buys, how he goes about acquiring these books, keeping his second-hand bookselling business afloat in this modern world, his interactions with his staff, and his various relationships with his customers. Brace yourself for the hilarious interactions with his staff and customers. It does not matter if you  are fascinated by the intricacies of the world of booksellers, or even with some guy in Scotland. This is full-on comedy.Shaun has a wry sense of humor. He does not spend much time talking about books that he loves. He barely has any time to read. The dialogue between Shaun, the quirky Nicky, one of his staff members, will leave you crying with laughter. She doesn’t take direction from him, she takes over the store’s Facebook page whenever she pleases inserting her voice when she does so, and she files books in categories that she deems appropriate, making it impossible to locate them later. But her heart is in the right place. While Shaun disparages a customer’s inane questions in the book, he is never rude to them in person, and is quite dedicated to his job. This is evident by his numerous repeat customers and the fact that The Book Shop is a destination for tourists alike.If Shaun ever reads this post, I am afraid that he will send me to kingdom come on his Facebook page, as I read his book on my Kindle. The ebook is akin to the devil. To give you an idea of how much he detests the electronic device, he shot one once with his father’s rifle and then displayed it in the shop as if it were a trophy. I get where he is coming from. I understand the position that the behemoth Amazon has put businesses like his. I tried my darndest to purchase a hard copy of his book at my local bookshop, but I was told that they do not have the rights to purchase it in the US. I hope that he will appreciate the Kindle sales boost from my one purchase none the less. And know that I thoroughly enjoyed every single bit of it. Hats off to him as a dedicated book shop owner and to the extremely hard work that he puts in on the daily to his customers to search for the most interesting books he can find. Also, this is one book that I would be delighted to hear someone purchase the movie rights to. If Colin Firth plays him in the movie, even better.Mr. Bythell, when can we expect to read The Diary Pt. II?

I'm a sucker for any book about bookstores, and this one is one of the best. We've all heard of Hay-on-Wye in Wales, and this book is about Scotland's book town--Wigtown (yes, that's its real name). Bythell's book is his diary of a year in the life of the bookshop. You'll meet his staff, his family, his customers, the people who sell used books to him--a colorful kaleidoscope of village life through the lens of someone who truly loves books. I read it in two sittings--because I kept having to look up the books that play the role of 'supporting characters' in the Diary. I can't wait for the next Diary to be published, and a visit to Wigtown is definitely on my bucket list.

This book is going straight onto my shelf of all time favourites. I really enjoyed reading Shaun Bythell's diary of the trials, tribulations and occasional triumphs of being a bookseller.In 2001, after having difficulty settling on a career he enjoyed, Shaun bought The Book Shop in his home town of Wigtown, in the Galloway region of Scotland. Some years later he started a diary and a facebook site to record the interactions with his customers, but over the months it developed into so much more - a record of the changing seasons and the happenings in the town, as well as a record of the selling and buying of books, dealing with Amazon and his quirky part time employee Nicky.Following closure of its main industries, a distillery and a creamery, Wigtown launched a plan in 1998 to rejuvenate itself as a Book Town like the well known popular Welsh village Hay-on-Wye and is now a popular tourist destination with a successful annual Book Festival. The Book Shop is now the second largest second hand book store in Scotland with over 100,000 books. It sounds wonderful with rooms and rooms full of books, an open fire and comfortable armchairs, and odd antiques that Shaun picks up at auctions. There is even a 'festival bed' on a mezzanine that can be booked for the festival and often used by overnight guests who stay too late or drink too much to go home.This is a fascinating book to read if you're interested in becoming a bookseller. There are all sorts of customers, the regulars, the hagglers, the ones who spend hours in the shop pulling books off the shelf and not buying. Then there is the business of buying books from auctions and deceased estates, having to get rid of the unselleable portions but also occassionally finding a gem like a rare first edition or a book signed by Florence Nightingale. There are also the trials of on-line selling and dealing with Amazon (who now seem to own everything).The compensations for Shaun are living in a beautiful part of the world, enjoying the fishing, boating and rock climbing in the quiet times with someone else minding the shop. Shaun also knows many interesting people and his involvement in organising the annual festival allows him to meet many authors and writers so there are many evenings of social company and entertainment.Shaun's one time employee Nicky also provided him with hours of amusement (as well as annoyance because she had her own ideas of how to run the shop). There are some priceless videos on YouTube of Nicky (in the black ski-suit that she wore to work all winter) showing the results of her bin foraging outside the supermarket, judging the anonymous postcard competition, explaining to Shaun what happened to his creme eggs and also of Shaun and Nicky in a Book Shop rap. Shaun's video series of Kindle Tutorials on how to deal with broken kindles is also hilarious and sums up his thoughts on Amazon (there's a great photo in the book of the 'fixed kindle' from one of his tutorials). I also enjoyed Shaun discussing the books he's reading and the George Orwell quotes at the start of each month of the diary.Recommended for all those who think it would be cool to have a bookshop and for the rest of us who enjoy reading and reading about what other people are reading.

This is exactly what it says it is, a daily diary of a used-book seller in a small Scottish town that's rich in booksellers and hosts an annual boon fair that I hope to be able to attend some day. Bythell is cranky and intolerant of fools, and he takes as his keynote the piece George Orwell, also a cranky type, wrote about his own (disillusioning) experience of working in a bookstore. Bythell is frequently really, really funny, and going with him on book-buying expeditions to old houses is worth the price of admission, as is his account of his assistant, Nikki, invariably late, slave to unintelligible shelving hypotheses, and apparently irreplaceable. I love books and that helped, but I also laughed out loud pretty often.

I enjoyed this book so much that I re-read it as soon as I had finished it. I thought parts were hysterically funny and some were sad.You quickly got a realistic feeling of the town’s inhabitants, and some of the peculiarities of the shop’s customers, eg the man who read erotic books ( some illustrated) all afternoon then left without buying any. I became used to Shaun’s manner of writing, seemed a bit dead pan and sarcastic at first, but the more I read the more I liked the book. The writing was totally realistic and you could visualise all the events, interactions with staff, friends, customers and the happenings at Wigtown. The rapport between Shaun and the staff ( especially Shaun’s permanent worker Nicky) was funny with his pretend insulting attitude towards them ( and vice versa) and looked forward to Nicky’s Friday skip dive. It was a joy to read about the town and the people who lived and worked there, the community helped each other and seemed very close knit. I can prophesy an increase in visitors to Wigtown, I know I’d like to go and absorb everything in reality all that I’d imagined , brilliant!

I know well the book shop of the story. But I have never met Shaun Bythell. When I return to Wigtown in the Spring I shall seek him out. The book is entertaining, and at times hilarious. Blythell tells of the problems facing book sellers and although he uses Amazon as an agent to help sell a significant proportion of his books, he is not always impressed by the potential it has to destroy the business of small sellers. Wigtown is full of such shops: if they collapse Wigtown will become Ghostown and the excellent Book Festival held annually each Autumn will be no more. Amazon has a big responsibility not to destroy small towns and their livelihood and important related activity. Blythell tells this all with a easy to read style supported by 13 years of hard labour. The supporting cast of Nicky and Captain the Shopcat, eccentric and stupid customers adds to the entertainment. If I lost this book, I would buy it again

What a wonderful little book. As I am on holiday I had time to read it in two sessions and after the first hour or so I felt that I was part of this crazy,but totally likeable band of book buyers, sellers and lovers. Lead by Shaun and his unusual staff we follow the trials and tribulations of an, against all odds ( AMAZON) , surviving independent book store in the book town of Wigtown.Over a year Shaun charts the day to day events,number of customers and revenue. There are many chuckles and a few laugh out loud passages. I have learned a lot about the skill of buying to sell at a profit. Of the gems that occasionally turn up in a box of dross. All fascinating. Then there are the unreasonable, the stingy, the time wasters, and on occasion the down right stupid customers who would try the patience of a Saint and of course the kind, the considerate and on occasion learned ones that make it all worthwhile.As I live many miles from my nearest bookshop, I am guilty of buying through AMAZON . Ironically I bought this very book from them. I have also given in at times to the sin of The Kindel. After reading this and realising once again how important it is to keep these independent, knowledgeable stores in business, I vow to patronise them from now on. I also promise myself a pilgrimage to Wigtown.There is another level touched on in this book : the struggle for small towns to keep high street commerce active and indeed survive. Wigtown with its book festival and hard working, imaginative folk like Shaun Bythel is doing just that.Long may they continue.

Felt so inspired by this book that I challenged myself not to buy books from Amazon for a year (sshh!). I love Amazon and gladly pay my yearly subscription but I also dearly love bookshops and this book made me realise that by saving myself a few pounds every now and then I, and all of us, are making sure that they struggle. Running a bookshop is not a way to make a fast buck it is clear and is clearly a vocation and I thank each and every bookseller for doing it. I am going out of my way to visit actual independent bookshops and am enjoying reading myself around the country! Wigtown is on my list though I live in Kent so it will be a journey! Or a pilgrimage! Hope that there is another instalment because I really enjoyed this one, it made me laugh out loud many times. Though I hate to tell you I listened to it on Audible. Sorry Shaun.

Vastly enjoyable, thoroughly readable, irascible narrative combining two of my favourite subjects: books and Galloway. Yes, I read it on a Kindle. Yes, I'm reviewing it on Amazon. Yes, I am aware of irony and i do feel slight a slight pang of guilt but if it gets Shaun Bythil (sic) more readers then great. He deserves tbem. Buy the book, preferably in hard copy, preferably from his great shop