Scan barcode
coffeequasars's review against another edition
4.0
(3,5/5)
Lovely, light-hearted book. 'The Diary of a Bookseller" is a very casual read and might be a good one to get you out of a reading slump. However, if you're more into books with a clear storyline and characters you can relate to, this might not be your cup of tea. I, especially for the first hundred or so pages, had some difficulty with remembering where I had left off for exactly that reason. Overall, enjoyable and quite funny!
Lovely, light-hearted book. 'The Diary of a Bookseller" is a very casual read and might be a good one to get you out of a reading slump. However, if you're more into books with a clear storyline and characters you can relate to, this might not be your cup of tea. I, especially for the first hundred or so pages, had some difficulty with remembering where I had left off for exactly that reason. Overall, enjoyable and quite funny!
bethanna_hobbs's review against another edition
4.0
A charming, easy to read, interesting, exciting, hilarious book about running a bookshop and all it entails. I laughed out loud on a few occasions and now I want to trawl all the second hand bookshops in the UK for hidden treasures. Captivating.
tylerc04's review against another edition
4.0
i loved this book so much. due to its nature of being a diary i did lose interest every now and then but nevertheless i loved it.
arctos_the_sixth's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
informative
lighthearted
relaxing
slow-paced
4.0
katykelly's review against another edition
5.0
Perfect for book lovers, fascinating glimpse behind the scenes and a reminder that monopolies on book are changing the industry forever...
It's funny, it's fascinating, it's got the ring of truth. A diary of a bookseller's life in his shop.
We hear about the customers who come in to find out when the next bus is, we hear about what books are requested, how a shop gets its stock, the highs and lows of the year - and a lot of comments on how the big retailers are changing the market completely.
Bythell tells it 'like it is', with days of few takings, of customers requesting discounts, of children snuggling in the corner spellbound by a novel, of people selling books to the shop that turn out to be valuable.
I loved it - as a librarian and book lover who uses Amazon (sorry!) it really did show the difference between an 'older' world of buying books, with professionals who know their stock, their prices, their authors and the modern world of cut-price paperbacks and expectations of mint condition early editions.
Amusing, bittersweet and a look at what may one day become merely a quaint-seeming part of our literary history. May the book shop never die out.
I enjoyed the narrator of this (audio version), who gave the diarist a world-weary yet still hopeful tone as he chronicled the daily grind and little triumphs of the business.
It's funny, it's fascinating, it's got the ring of truth. A diary of a bookseller's life in his shop.
We hear about the customers who come in to find out when the next bus is, we hear about what books are requested, how a shop gets its stock, the highs and lows of the year - and a lot of comments on how the big retailers are changing the market completely.
Bythell tells it 'like it is', with days of few takings, of customers requesting discounts, of children snuggling in the corner spellbound by a novel, of people selling books to the shop that turn out to be valuable.
I loved it - as a librarian and book lover who uses Amazon (sorry!) it really did show the difference between an 'older' world of buying books, with professionals who know their stock, their prices, their authors and the modern world of cut-price paperbacks and expectations of mint condition early editions.
Amusing, bittersweet and a look at what may one day become merely a quaint-seeming part of our literary history. May the book shop never die out.
I enjoyed the narrator of this (audio version), who gave the diarist a world-weary yet still hopeful tone as he chronicled the daily grind and little triumphs of the business.