The Diary of a Bookseller is a quirky, behind-the-scenes look at the life of a Scottish bookseller, and while it’s charming in parts, it can feel a bit repetitive. Shaun Bythell’s dry wit and sometimes grumpy take on customer interactions are entertaining, especially for anyone who’s ever worked retail or has a love for secondhand bookstores.

However, the day-to-day entries sometimes blend together, and the lack of an overarching plot might leave some readers wishing for a bit more excitement. Still, it’s a fun, light read if you enjoy books about books—and it doesn’t take itself too seriously, which is always a plus!

I was drawn in by the pretty cover, and because I'm familiar with the bookshop – I live in Scotland and have visited Wigtown several times, usually when the festival is on. I've been a bookseller too, so I was looking forward to lots of book chat and some good recommendations. I have a whole shelf of 'books about books', like the Nick Hornby and Susan Hill ones, so it's something I always enjoy. And, look, I know part of the appeal is that the author is kind of a grumpy arse. But he was just too much of a grumpy arse for me! I didn't hate it, but I also didn't enjoy the experience of a rude older man judging me for 300 pages.

Like a lot of book lovers, my dream would be to own a bookshop, have a bookshop cat and be able to read all day. That sounds like heaven.

In Shaun Bythell’s Diary of a Bookseller we get to see that the reality of owning a bookshop isn’t always as idyllic as the dream. Shaun Bythell owns The Bookshop – like Ronseal – the name of the store does what it says on the tin. It is located in Scotland and is a firm favourite among book lovers who annually pilgrimage to Scotland in September for the book festival.

Bythell’s book lets you know a daily account of all the humorous comings and goings of the shop along with the bizarre and rude customers who frequent the shop often choosing not to buy anything.

And whilst reading The Diary of a Bookseller I was reminded of the difficulties faced in the bookselling world I still really, really want to own a bookshop.

Diary of a Bookseller by Shaun Bythell is available now.

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Did not manage to download this book on time. I am very sorry that I did not manage. Thanks for the opportunity.

I really loved this book, it was perfect to curl up with on winter nights. It wasn't twee, as most memoirs aren't, but it was cosy and homely and just quite lovely.

In Scotland the lives a book shop with a wonderfully sarcastic owner, weird customers and slightly offbeat staff, this diary is so good that I am seriously considering a road trip up there to try and become a squatter in the shop among all the books.

I won't be allowed to live there any other way unless I become a squatter and try to claim squatters rights, I need to do some research about that to see if it's a feasible plan *strokes chin while thinking*

I this in a couple of sittings as I didn't want it to end and don't know why it's taken me this long to review it, naughty me.

*Huge thanks to Shaun Bythell, Serpent's Tail, Profile Books and NetGalley for this copy which I chose to read and all opinions are my own*

The amusing ups and downs of a life selling books.
Each chapter starts with an amusing anecdote of George Orwell who spent some time as a bookseller. Bythell then gives us his take on the same issues today.
The high points are Foodie Friday and Nicky who is a law unto herself storing books in all sorts of wrong categories for all sorts of arbitrary reasons.
It was interesting to see the different amounts in the till, on 3 consecutive days there were 5 customers and £12.99, £110 and £90.50. £12.99 being the worst days takings that year and £ 1,274.03 the highest. With an average of £10 per customer.
It was a mildly entertaining book.
I was given this book by NetGalley and the publisher. This is my voluntary review.

As soon as I saw this book I NEEDED to read it. I suppose because in my other imaginary life, the one far from my real one this is what I have always thought I would love to do, be a bookseller or just simply work in a book store. On putting this book down, yes the imaginary me would still like to do it but boy it would be more a challenge than I thought! ha!. I found this diary hilarious, the quirky, weird and wacky customers, repetitive jokes and great personality of Shaun (I wish he was my pal😁). On the other hand though I really felt for him as he tells of the struggle to compete against online booksellers and customers often wrong perceptions that his books are more expensive.
A great escape and insightful diary. I found it totally fascinating and I'm sure any book worm would enjoy it too!.
My thanks go to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this arc.

(I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.)

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.

I have been a bookseller for just over 20 years. I understand everything this guy refers to. I understand about customers, being in the business in a small town, staffing, all those things...and, like in my life, they are mostly quite boring.

I really wanted to enjoy this and, for the first few "weeks", I did. And then it became repetitive (which is absolutely true - life in retail can be like that) - but that's not what I want in a book. I can go to work and get that. I want a book to remain fresh and interesting and engaging - I really got nothing like that after the first 30 pages or so.

HOWEVER! If I wasn't in the business for so long, and didn't know all the ins-and-outs of the trade, then this may be quite fun and interesting. But it is still repetitive and I don't know just how many people would be interested in the diary of a bookshop owner.


Paul
ARH

This whole web based malarkey is beyond me but I am going to recommend this title in store everyday until I retire, Thanks for writing the truth about book selling , warts and all !

This book is, as it says on the cover, a diary of a year in a secondhand bookseller’s life. On the factual side we are told how much the till took each day and how many online orders the shop received (and was able to supply) – this gives quite an insight into how financial vulnerable small independent retailers are. But the bits that I, and many others by the look of the reviews, really enjoyed was the no-holds-barred account of each day’s interactions with staff, neighbours and customers (both the paying kind and the looky-loos). I’m sure anyone who has ever worked in retail has had ‘moments’ where they have been confused, amused or shocked by the comments and reactions of customers – although I don’t think many could describe these interactions as amusingly as Bythell does. Not always in the most polite way (especially when talking about some of his staff) but with honesty, wit and a fair amount of dark humour. Think Black Books and you won’t go far wrong. What does shine through though is the love of the job itself – buying in stock, working with authors and helping people to find the books they want (even if they didn’t know what that book was) – and of reading. I’m a little bit jealous of Bythell’s life – the job, the beautiful part of the country he lives in and the community he is a part of – but his sales figures make me worried that it’s a life that is under threat. The best thing I can think of to do is to plan a return trip to Galloway – taking lots of book-buying cash with me. It’s a tough job, but I think I could manage it…

I just found the whole book to be very repetitive, which in turn bored me.
Did not enjoy at all.

Why would l review it they wouldn't let me in they think it's all eat here in belfast and all they do is take everything that's why we are all so bloody miserable and every time I look out the window it's raining so where's the fun in that I'm not moaning just telling the truth the Scots are horrible a violent and disgraceful clan as for the book they can keep it

The Diary of a Bookseller by Shaun Bythell

Never before has a Diary ostensibly about such mundanity been quite so engaging and laugh out loud hilarious. This is a book for readers who love to hide themselves away in the shelves, for the reader questing for more than the Tesco or Waterstones bestsellers lists, it is for the cantankerous and the adventurous. In short a delight!

A good read, and definitely a bookshop I plan to visit. More detailed review on my blog; link below.

I thought this was a highly amusing and informative book as it steps behind the scenes at The Bookshop in Wigtown, which is a second hand bookstore in Scotland. The owner, Shaun Bythell, recollects the past year as the owner and all that entails - the highs, the lows, the weird customers, the onslaught of Amazon and its' practices, the funny and stressful sides of a booksellers life and how he gets his revenge on those who browse his shelves and then claim they can get the book cheaper elsewhere - when he knows they can't!!

There is a real warmth in the way that he writes and it had me chuckling on many occasions and it just sounds like my idea of heaven to visit! It has even prompted me to join the Random Book Club that the bookshop runs so can't wait for my books to start arriving!!

For all those of us who love reading and love rummaging through old bookstores of which there are far too few nowadays! Save the secondhand bookshops!!

Really enjoyed the book, fascinating look at the behind the scenes workings of a second hand bookshop. Funny too!

A big thank you to NetGalley and the author for an ARC of this book.

I honestly wasn't sure what to expect - my 'go to' genre is mysteries, and this definitely isn't a mystery (unless it's why Nicky insists that what she gets from the Morrison's skip is still 'food'). I didn't realise this was based on an actual bookstore - have since Googled it and made a mental note that it's somewhere I need to visit - or actual bookseller and it did take me a few pages to grasp the diary structure. Once I did though, I thoroughly enjoyed it! Anyone who is/has been a bookseller can relate to varying degrees about the interactions with customers and their sometimes quirky and unusual requests and comments. I know I can certainly think of a few of my own!

I admit, as an avid Amazon user, that I was unaware of the 'trickle down' - or rather, the non-trickle down - effect it has on the bricks and mortar independent bookshops. I still frequent the independents as and when I can, but I suppose the convenience of Amazon is part of its lure. But I have a greater appreciation for how difficult it must be to co-exist with a behemoth like Amazon, which is simply not interested in competition. Particularly for someone who has spent a large portion of his life focused on both books and his community, and bringing the two together in this small town in a rather remote part of Scotland.

I found this book thoroughly enjoyable; it was funny, thoughtful, and entertaining, with endearing characters and some tear-your-hair-out ones. (less)

Meet Shaun Bythell, the owner of Scotland’s largest second- hand bookshop called ‘The Bookshop’ and is located in Wigtown which is in the Dumfries and Galloway region of Scotland and is also home to the Wigtown Book Festival which runs from 22nd September to 1st October this year. In Shaun’s bookshop he has a few books in fact over 100,000 books. This must be the closest thing to book heaven you can get. Shaun has been keeping a diary since taking over Wigtown bookshop and Diary of a Bookseller is an extremely funny and humorous look at life running a large bookshop.

Someone once said to me that second-hand bookshops are were books go to die. I completely disagree with that comment and when you read Diary of a Bookseller you will come to see what joy Shaun brings to his work. There are some very funny stories from his diary of customers and his staff and not to mention the bookshop cat. Shaun’s witty diary entries are a joy to read as he goes about running his bookshop. On the miles of bookshelves there are books on every subject, it would be hard to think that anyone would dare say they cannot find anything to read, so you would think. Then there is his assistant Nicky who just leads an interesting life. Each time I visit my local Morrisons store I will think of Nicky. You have to read to understand this.
Then there are the trials and tribulations of running a bookshop let alone a second-hand bookshop. That word ‘Amazon’ keeps cropping up. Over the last few years we have seen digital books taking a slice of the market so Shaun has had to cope with the ever changing reading habits of the buying public. There is nothing better than holding a ‘real’ book in your hands books are meant to be held and read from page to page not switched on or off. Just don’t mention eBooks to Shaun Bythell. Some of us have seen the clip of him taking his shotgun to an eReader.

If you have read and enjoyed The Bookshop Book by Jen Campbell then you will love The Diary of a Bookseller by Shaun Bythell. Just makes me want to work I a bookshop and sell books all day. It is written by a man who clearly has a passion for books and selling books. It is an ode to second-hand bookshops everywhere. I just loved this wonderful book. Now what did I do with that Kindle?

I really enjoyed this book which spans across a year in the life of Scotland's largest second hand book store run by Shaun Bythell. We follow him day by day as he interacts with his customers and various trips to source the stock for his shop. Loved Nicky who worked there, especially "Foodie Friday" He is a lover of books but not the book buyer and his observations about his customers are very funny. It made me so thankful I didn't work in retail and was often bemused by his customers.
"An elderly customer told me that her book club's next book was Dracula, but she couldn't remember what he's written"