Remainders of the Day

September 5, 2022
Bythell (The Diary of a Bookseller) returns with another rollicking account of running The Bookshop, Scotland’s second-largest used bookstore. Bythell records his interactions with his colorful Wigtown neighbors, presented in short anecdotal entries alongside a running tally of daily sales. There’s his free-spirited upstairs neighbor who teaches an unpopular belly dancing class, temporary employees who have “made a singularly ill-judged decision to become a bookseller, and an even worse choice to seek my counsel on the subject,” and a neighbor’s poodle who constantly relieves itself on Bythell’s azaleas. Then there are the customers, a motley assortment of the best and worst of humanity—some who quibble over a single pound and others who insist on tipping. Bythell’s biting wit combines with an obvious passion for the work, even as he struggles to maintain an online presence, a new necessity for secondhand shops: “I’ve now been suspended from Amazon, ABE and Facebook, all by algorithms.” The time frame is prior to the advent of Covid, yet it’s a reminder of how bookstores remain sacred spaces, as well as the very real labor that goes into maintaining them: “The sun still rises in the east, and sets in the west. The shop is still here.” Bythell’s narration is equal parts preposterous and profound, sure to prove irresistible to fellow bibliophiles. Agent: George Lucas, InkWell Management.

November 1, 2022
A bookstore owner and sometime writer muses on buying books from and selling them to a colorful cast of readers. As he recounts, Bythell fell into used and antiquarian bookselling in Wigtown, Scotland, as a 30-year-old ex-law student. Like his two previous books, Diary of a Bookseller and Confessions of a Bookseller, this narrative--the third in an unofficial series derived from Bythell's journals--contains a host of droll stories taken from a year of his professional life. The author's days follow predictable patterns revolving around behind-the-counter sales to at times unusual patrons, order fulfillment for the Random Book Club, or acquisition hunts for tomes by obscure writers or on arcane--but surprisingly bestselling--topics like Freemasonry and heraldry. As in his other books, Bythell rails against online retail sites like Amazon, which are governed by sometimes faulty algorithms that have occasionally suspended his accounts without apparent rhyme or reason. The author's understated wit is at its best in his observations of the many quirky people who find their way into The Bookshop, Scotland's largest secondhand bookstore. Some are new to Bythell's world--e.g., Petra, an Austrian woman who held weekly belly-dancing classes just above the store. Others are returning characters from the author's previous books, including "Sandy the tattooed pagan," who "rarely leaves empty-handed," Granny, the Italian-born bookshop clerk with a fondness for greeting Bythell with the middle finger; and Captain, the author's scheming, dog-taunting cat. For all the charm inherent in the anecdotes that comprise this book, however, the overall narrative lacks some of the threads that held together his earlier books, such as his relationship with the free-wheeling American Anna. When she does appear, Bythell speaks of her with curious detachment, barely referencing their involvement or its aftermath. This is a minor flaw, however, and the author's thoughtful eccentricity makes for entertaining reading. A refreshingly human narrative.

COPYRIGHT(2022) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

November 1, 2022

Bythell (Confessions of a Bookseller) is the owner of Scotland's largest used bookstore, which has more than 100,000 books in stock. The Bookshop is located in Wigtown, a small town in southwest Scotland that has transformed itself from a declining industrial center to a haven for booklovers. With Bythell's fourth book (after Seven Kinds of People You Meet in Bookshops) about his experiences as a bookstore owner, he shares amusing and wry anecdotes about the ins and outs of running a secondhand bookstore. Written in diary form, this book covers a year, beginning in February 2016. The author takes readers along with him to appraise and buy collections, and he describes his everyday encounters with local characters, eccentric employees, and customers who both buy and sell books. As one of the organizers of the annual Wigtown Book Festival, Bythell reveals the planning that goes into making such an event successful. His dry humor and skeptical view of humanity make for a very funny take on his business. VERDICT This is a charming look at a small-town bookstore, its owner, and the people he meets.--Rebecca Mugridge

Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 20, 2023
As the lure of a good book found in the comforting confines of a cozy bookstore endures, so does the work of the bookseller. Bythell, in his latest Bookshop Diary, following Diary of a Bookseller (2018), continues to record daily customer interactions, workplace frustrations, and steadfast enjoyment in running the largest used bookstore in Scotland. Regular customers meet new staff members as the year progresses. Bythell took the initiative to give the idealistic public a chance at the till in some moments to expected hilarious results. What is also illuminating is the sheer work it takes to keep the physical collection of books afloat. More often the proprietor is off running down leads of either treasured collections or worthless lots pushed by insistent self-appointed bibliophiles. A belly dance class is held in an unused part of the store to create another source of income. Estates are rummaged and reluctantly bought. What remains along with Bythell's wit and curmudgeonly demeanor is a continued dedication to the written word. Thankfully, books and booksellers will never fade. There are just too many of them!

COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.