Confessions of a Bookseller by Shaun Bythell review – a brilliant sequel

A heart-warming love letter to books and bookshops, by an amenable fellow turned antisocial old misanthrope“I was in here two years ago and you had a book by Roger Penrose. Do you know what happened to it?” Shaun Bythell – owner of the Book Shop in Wigtown, Galloway – has 100,000 books in stock, sells 20,000 a year, and has handled nearly 1m second-hand books since he bought the shop in 2001. Unsurprisingly, the Roger Penrose volume had not stuck in his mind.Before he entered the book trade at the tender age of 31, he was “amenable and friendly”. Now, after many years of fielding bizarre questions, constant haggling over prices (why is it “acceptable to try to screw the profit out of struggling small businesses” but not supermarkets?), and struggling to survive despite Amazon’s “icy grip” on bookselling, he has been forced to embrace the stereotype of the “impatient, intolerant, antisocial proprietor”. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2019-08-24 10:58:38 UTC ]
News tagged with: #book shop #shaun bythell #tender age #book trade #bookseller

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Bookselling Roundup, Week Ending March 13, 2015

Two bookstores changed hands this week—Main Street Books in Davidson, N.C., and Partners Village in Westport, Mass. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-03-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The Bookseller | 2015-03-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Reviews of New and Forthcoming Spirituality and Religion Books, March 11, 2015

Theologian Harvey Cox offers simple advice on reading the complex Bible; Pope Francis ponders Jesus and the life of faith. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-03-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bestselling author Alice Hoffman's children's book, 'Nightbird,' receives mostly positive reviews

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[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2015-03-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Academic booksellers frozen out by D2C

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[ The Bookseller | 2015-03-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bookselling Roundup, Week Ending March 6, 2015

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-03-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2015-03-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bookselling Roundup, Week Ending February 27, 2015

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-02-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The Bookseller | 2015-02-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Reviews of New and Forthcoming Religion and Spirituality Books, February 25, 2015

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-02-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The Guardian | 2015-02-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-02-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2015-02-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bookselling Roundup, Week Ending February 20, 2015

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-02-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Nature journals introduce 'double-blind' review

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[ The Bookseller | 2015-02-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bookselling Roundup, Week Ending February 13, 2015

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-02-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Reviews of New and Forthcoming Religion and Spirituality Books, February 11, 2015

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-02-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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