Seven Kinds of People You Find in Bookshops

 

Seven Kinds of People You Find in Bookshops by Shaun Bythell (2020 Profile Books Ltd hardcover 137pp)

 

A short review for a very short book.

Shaun Bythell came to fame a few years back when his first book “Diary of a Bookseller” became a global bestseller. “Diary.” covered roughly a year in the life of a bookshop owner in a small southern Scottish town. Bythell’s acerbic wit and charm as he described his daily life, co-workers and customers alike made the book something special and last year a second volume of diary entries, “Confessions of a Bookseller” was released to equal acclaim. I loved them both as they transported me to and immersed me in another life like all good books should.

This time around Bythell has changed formats – the diary entries are gone and instead we have his observations and musings on the main types of customers that dare to venture into his establishment. He divides them into main species and sub-species and goes on to describe the features and foibles of each. There’s also a bonus section where his does the same for those who actually work in bookshops.

You can’t fault Bythell’s writing, he’s both funny and erudite. Every couple of pages a passage would make me chuckle. He sticks the knife in but at the same time you can tell he has some sort of affection for people still. His love of books goes without saying.

This is a slim volume, reasonably large print and less than 150 pages long in the hardback. I read it in one sitting, taking around 95 minutes to finish. I’m left wanting to hear more from Bythell and hope he returns to the diary type entries next time. The cynic in me feels like this book was something rushed out for the end of year holiday season and the real good stuff is yet to come. A worthy stocking-stuffer for book-lovers.