Charming

Seven Kinds of People You Find in Bookshops

Shaun Bythell — 2020

A wickedly witty field guide to bookstore customers from the Person Who Doesn't Know What They Want (But Thinks It Might Have a Blue Cover) to the harried Parents Secretly After Free Childcare. It does take all kinds. If you visit bookshops more often than the grocery store, you'll recognize the types. There's the Expert (with subspecies from the Bore to the Helpful Person), the Young Family (ranging from the Exhausted to the Aspirational), Occultists (from Conspiracy Theorist to Craft Woman). Then there's the Loiterer (including the Erotica Browser and the Self-Published Author), the Bearded Pensioner (including the Lyrca Clad), the The Not-So-Silent Traveller (the Whistler, Sniffer, Hummer, Farter, and Tutter), and the Family Historian (generally Americans who come to Shaun's shop in Wigtown, Scotland). Two bonus sections include Staff and, finally, Perfect Customer -- all from Shaun Bythell (author of Confessions of a Bookseller), the funniest sell-and-tell observer in the house of books. This is the perfect read for anyone who ever felt a bookstore was home. You've been spotted! Or have you?

Reviews

Melissa Palmer@melissapalmer404

Nov 5, 2023

Quick read about the types of people who you might find in a book store....I liked the author's somewhat sarcastic writing style.

Minnie Mazuera@pearltheforestcreature

Aug 28, 2022

An absolute delight!

Sarah Ryan@sarahryan

Mar 17, 2022

I loved ‘The Diary of a Bookseller’ and while the author makes entertaining observations about the different types of people you find in bookshops, the species classification concept feels forced and the books falls flat in places. I suspect if not for Covid more time might have been spent developing and editing this novella. Or perhaps it may never have existed at all.

Mandi Jayne@mandi_reads

Jan 13, 2022

This author/bookseller is a great example of why “the Amazon generation” buys their books online. I can only imagine how unwelcome the majority of people feel in his shop, knowing they are actively being hated.

yasmin@yasmins_bookish_life

Oct 15, 2021

finished another book which was also my Christmas present of a friend; "Seven Kinds of People You Find In Bookshops" by Shaun Bythell and I absolutely loved it, funny, sarcastic, witty writing brilliant! although I thought of sth completely different when receiving this, I rlly enjoyed it

Anyaconda@kaffeeklatschandbooks

Aug 29, 2021

This was an entertaining albeit very sarcastic view of what kind of people you'll find in bookshops. You could also easily read this if you're having to do with customers in general as you'll see the same sort of behavior. There are lots of anecdotes and analyses about human behavior sprinkled with humorous elements that made me chuckle a few times. It wasn't the greatest thing ever written, but I can still recommend this to any book lover. Thanks Netgalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Rachel @rachelslibrary

Aug 21, 2021

This was an enjoyable book with lots of different stories and experiences regarding types of customers you may encounter in a bookstore. Some stories were definitely more interesting than others, but I never found myself fully invested in any of them. It was a super easy read and I recommend it if you want something quick and humorous.