Reviews - The Diary of a Bookseller

1.71k reviews for:

The Diary of a Bookseller

Shaun Bythell

3.71 AVERAGE

belbookandacuppa's review against another edition

3.75

funny informative fast-paced

I started reading this in book-form, then got a little bored by the (unsurprising) diary format. When I switched to an audio book (sorry, Shaun), it was a lot easier to get through. As a secondhand bookseller myself, I was either fuming or laughing at experiences we've both unfortunately had. It was fun to learn that people coming into a bookshop are the same whether from Indiana or Scotland. :)

tubareads's review

3.0

The diary of a bookseller is exactly JUST that....a diary of a bookseller. Shaun Bythell owns the second-largest second-hand bookstore in Scotland and the book is a collection of his diary entries starting February 2011 (if I remember correctly) until next year February 2011. Shaun talks about the joys and the struggles of owning your own bookstore, a dream many book lovers dream of on the daily. But the truth is far from glamorous and no, book owners don't roam around in knitted, oversized sweaters with a cup of coffee in hand a book in another. These entries shed light on what happens to our beloved books once we die, the long, long, journeys our books go on even after we have given them away and the beauty of working in retail (which is to say that awful customers don't stop at grocery stores, they are just as awful in bookstores too)

My rating has more to do with the fact that this book doesn't have a story, it really is like reading someone's diary and there is no big reveal at the of the book. You could start reading a random page and you wouldn't miss a thing from the story. There are small conversations, book recommendations and a lot of book buying involved! So if you are looking for a light read, this is a great book but if you are someone who appreciates a good story like myself, you might not find this one as interesting.