TITLE: Remainders of the Day
AUTHOR: Shaun Bythell
GENRE: Memoir
RATING: 4 stars
This book will be released in December 2022
This is the third book I have read by this author and honestly, I always have a love/hate relationship with his books.
I owned a used bookstore for 4 years and although it was not an antiquarian shop, I certainly got a lot of experience owning and working in a bookstore. Now, I am sorry I did not keep a diary of my time.
The best parts of this book, for me, are always the (too brief!) description of his buying trips. He does mention that one of the best things about owning a bookstore is the unboxing of books - never knowing what will be in the box. I totally agree with him - loved, loved that part so much.
I also had my share of particular customers and of funny stories. However, I wonder how his customers feel being basically put down by Bythell. I find him mean in his descriptions and yet, at the same time, he lets his employees and people around him call him horrid names. I don't understand his relationships, for the most part. Since he mentions these in his book, that kind of makes them open to comment.
I also question, as I did in the first book, where he gets all this $. He wants us to believe that bookselling is not about $ but he sure buys a lot of books, travels and stays in hotels which all cost a lot. It is never cleared up in his books.
The writing style is engaging, but there is definitely an undertone of....not sure what to call it, other than nastiness that makes me uncomfortable.
But then again, I suppose I could be accused of doing the same with this review.
I wanted to wish this author good luck - having two babies at the age of 50 is quite a feat. I bet its a lot more work than owning a bookstore.
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