Book REVIEW for Confessions of a bookseller by Shaun Bythell

Thank you to the publisher for sending me an electronic copy of this book, TITLE:                 Confessions of a Bookseller AUTHOR:            Shaun Bythell GENRE;               Non fiction RATING:             4 stars  have read both books in the series and have the exact same thoughts on both. I love the bookstore stories. The customers, the online sales of books, the book buying trips and, of course, Captain. I would have continued reading hundreds and hundreds of pages on the above subjects. What I struggle with though, is the fact that the author is not particularly likable. In fact, I am reminded of a saying I heard recently "all that brooding intensity is just annoying sometimes". That is exactly how I feel about the author and since he is an integral part of the story, I found myself turned off by the stories that are directly connected to him. In fact, the weakest parts of this book are the characters. Yes, I know that bookstores are known for being eclectic, but I don't understand how a boss can tolerate employees who basically do what they want, which includes calling him names and blatantly disregarding his instructions (not to mention coming in late or not at all). The part that is absolutely worth reading are the bits featuring conversations about books. Books purchased and sold and I love, love the stories about visiting various homes and buying collection of books. I wish there would have been a lot more focus on this topic and less on who is sleeping where for the "festival". This book is well written (in diary form) and, for the most part, is fun. I, again, wonder how he makes all his money. According to his "till" totals, there is no way he should be able to buy all the books he does, not to mention all the other expenses he seems to pay off without a care in the world about $. I always find his books incomplete, like we are missing pieces of the puzzle for it to all make sense.