A wry and hilarious account of life in Scotland’s biggest second-hand bookshop and the band of eccentrics and book-obsessives who work there.
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.
Was your New Year’s resolution to join a Book Club? The SYP London Book Club is open to members and non-members and refreshments will be provided – not to mention it’s full of fun conversation and fellow book lovers! This month, our theme is BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS (can you tell that we really love books?) – from a selection of books about books, our book clubbers chose The Diary of A Bookseller by Shaun Blythell. Join us at 7pm on Monday 3rd February at The Sun Tavern to discuss this scathingly honest and hilarious account of what it’s really like to run a bookshop.