Shaun Bythell

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.

The Diary of a Bookseller

sina (she/her) 

Amna A.

After a reading dry spell which lasted about a year, this book about books was the perfect one to get back to reading. Loved it 💚

good humour. But for me, unfortunately, after a point it felt boring. 

Vijayasarathy Muthu

altlovesbooks

"Some people just want you to know what their reading habits are, and have no intention of buying anything."


I work at a library, and while we don’t sell books, I do see a lot of the same behaviors in library patrons as Shaun Bythell does in his bookshop in Wigtown. The patrons who want you to know what they’re interested in without actually checking anything out, the kids who shove perfectly faced books to the back of the shelves, the colorful regulars, the list goes on and on. To that end, I found a lot to identify with and find humor in in this book.

As I said, Shaun Bythell owns The Bookshop in Wigtown, Scotland, the world’s largest second-hand bookshop. He started keeping a diary in February of 2014 of all the notable interactions, observations, and events that happen in his bookshop, as well as some of the daily tasks that keep a second-hand bookshop running. It is a diary format, so it’s not so much a story as it is a day-by-day account of the shop, which I appreciated. You get to know the staff, the regulars, the sort of clientele he sees on a seasonal basis, and a sense of how the shop operates and the struggles he goes through keeping the doors open and the lights on. It’s not easy being in the book trade in the age of Amazon.

He's a sarcastic man, and it’s clear that doesn’t rub everyone the right way. I appreciate his sense of humor and wry observations of people around him, but some people might find it mean spirited. It’s clear he enjoys what he does or he wouldn’t be doing it, and one can poke fun at the people around oneself while also being pleasant. It’s not all sunshine and roses in the retail industry, no matter the country.

There’s evidently more in the series, presumably more diaries from proceeding years. I look forward to reading them all.

Wilde

Devoured both books in the series over the past few weeks. It's not the most exciting thing to read but that's the charm in it. I can only liken it to settling down by the fire with a nice cup of tea.

Solidified my dream of running The Open Book.

heleen de boever

some wonderful laugh-out-loud moments here

A WRY AND HILARIOUS ACCOUNT OF LIFE AT A BOOKSHOP IN A REMOTE SCOTTISH VILLAGE "Among the most irascible and amusing bookseller memoirs I've read." —Dwight Garner, The New York Times "Warm, witty and laugh-out-loud funny..." —The Daily Mail The Diary of a Bookseller is Shaun Bythell's funny and fascinating memoir of a year in the life at the helm of The Bookshop, in the small village of Wigtown, Scotland—and of the delightfully odd locals, unusual staff, eccentric customers, and surreal buying trips that make up his life there as he struggles to build his business . . . and be polite . . . In this wry and hilarious diary, he tells us the trials and tribulations of being a small businessman; of learning that customers can be, um, eccentric; and of wrangling with his own staff of oddballs. And perhaps none are quirkier than the charmingly cantankerous bookseller Bythell himself turns out to be. Slowly, with a mordant wit and keen eye, Bythell is seduced by the growing charm of small-town life, despite—or maybe because of—all the peculiar characters there.

Anna Ureta

A very interesting read into the life of a second hand bookshop owner.

Basically diary entries, every day for almost a year. 

I thought it was very interesting that these were actual people and actual events that occurred. 
It gives you a pretty cool look into the day to day life of a second hand bookshop owner and what goes on behind the scenes that you may not be aware about or thought about.

I'd love to visit the shop one day if possible.

Ian Brakspear

This was such a unique and interesting read and whilst I may not have a clue about most the books being purchased in the shop, I loved the first-person perspective to life inside a 2nd hand bookshop it made for a great reading experience that left at times in stitches. 
 
The Diary of a Bookseller, author Shaun Bythell shares a year in his life as a bookseller through a series of journal entries written between 2014-15. Since 2001, Shaun Bythell owns and operates 'The Bookshop' in Wigtown, the Book Town of Galloway. One of the Standout Moments of this book was hearing about Bythell hate of E-readers and once he expressed his distaste towards Kindles by shooting through a damaged Kindle and mounting it on a wall in his shop- which he claims is one of the most popular displays in his shop! 
 
Bythell heads a light on both the positive and negative sides of being a bookseller. Through the diary he charts his sales, acquisitions as well as the money left in the till at the end of the day. Besides direct sales, the shop also sells through Amazon and AbeBooks. The author also discusses the challenges faced in selling books from brick-and-mortar stores in the era of Amazon, Waterstones, and the popularity of eBooks over physical books.
 
This is such an Eye-opening book that gave me such a great interest in being a bookseller - Definitely recommended for any reader that loves book-shopping!

Sarah Ryan

Really enjoyed this book. I listened to it as an audiobook book and actually laughed out loud. The author has a great, dry sense of humour and brings to life an amazing cast of characters. He wouldn’t encourage you to run a book shop though!

Grace O'Callaghan

The Diary of a Bookseller is told by Shaun, a Scottish bookshop owner as he recounts the day to day life of running a bookshop.

Overall, it was quite enjoyable. i just loved learning about the realities of running a bookshop. It's easy to glamorise but it's a lot like most retail jobs. 

While I enjoyed the content, Shaun's voice grated on me at. He just seems like quite an unsympathetic person and plain rude at times. I could understand being sarcastic in a diary about ignorant customers but he seemed to take it a bit far sometimes.

Basically, I wouldn't recommend this to a casual booklover. It is a diary so a lot of it is repetitive and mundane.

Started out funny, but then got a bit boring and, tbh, also mean in terms of: Him, judging his customers and making fun of them, though not being aware of their realities and possible challenges. It is ironic - as the saying goes: Never judge a book by its cover, me, buying the book due to the colourful cover, and him, judging his customers by their looks and 'behaviors' in the shop. 

abby donaldson

Judy Hudgins

My disappointment with the book is more 'technical'...the font size and style made it a bit hard to read.

Love, Nina meets Black Books: 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 'The Diary Of A Bookseller is warm (unlike Bythell's freezing-cold shop) and funny, and deserves to become one of those bestsellers that irritate him so much.' (Mail on Sunday) 'Utterly compelling and Bythell has a Bennett-like eye for the amusing eccentricities of ordinary people ... I urge you to buy this book and please, even at the risk of being insulted or moaned at, buy it from a real live bookseller.' (Charlotte Heathcote Sunday Express)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.

Joanna Rosenwink 

A very entertaining and relatable account of what it is like to work in a bookshop. Thoroughly enjoyable and with many passages I read aloud to my family as I found them so amusing.

Anna Pinto

I took this book out with little expectation and was really surprised about how readable and funny it was. I definitely recommend it to anyone who likes books and/or has to deal with customers ;)

Laura Dobie

Entertaining, full of hilarious anecdotes and also very touching in places. Clearly demonstrates the damaging impact that Amazon is having on independent bookshops. The perfect bedtime book.

Gordon McLean

A rambling diary style view into a year in the life of a (grumpy) bookseller.

Taken from blog/facebook posts, the style is engaging, even though nothing much really happens.

Tija

Meli

Love, Nina meets Black Books: 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 'The Diary Of A Bookseller is warm (unlike Bythell's freezing-cold shop) and funny, and deserves to become one of those bestsellers that irritate him so much.' (Mail on Sunday) 'Utterly compelling and Bythell has a Bennett-like eye for the amusing eccentricities of ordinary people ... I urge you to buy this book and please, even at the risk of being insulted or moaned at, buy it from a real live bookseller.' (Charlotte Heathcote Sunday Express) 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.

The Diary of a Bookseller

Reviews

Highlights