Author: Shaun Bythell
Publisher: Griffin
Rating: 2 out of 3 Ink Bottles
Shaun Bythell has become one of the most famous booksellers of our times, he owns an independent bookshop in Wigtown, Scotland and this is the third diary he's published. The premise is that he records his daily life in the shop: the customers he interacts with, how he organizes and acquires his stock, and his quirky assortment of staff and friends. At the beginning of each day we're told how many books he's sold online and how many of those he was able to find and send, however, we are not told how much those books went for. At the end of the day, we have the number of customers the store had and how much money they spent. Although the first diary was incredible, this was mediocre at best, especially due to Shaun's personality that bleeds through in the writing.
He is a big fan of the "grumpy bookseller" trope and it was cute and balanced in his first diary, but he seems to have gotten bitter and resentful over the years. If you've read his two other books you'll find this to be repetitive but worse. There's less about the ins and outs of running a bookstore and more about his friendships, who seem to be always popping up from nowhere. Talking about his friends, I was appalled to discover that he's openly friends with antisemites: "Many people, including some whom I consider friends, still believe that the media is controlled by a Jewish cartel."
Another personal issue that I have with the author is that he is constantly complaining about the state of bookstores and his financial situation. I'm well aware that most independent booksellers have been struggling in the current scenario all over the world, however, I doubt he's one of them. Why do I think that? Well, Shaun owns the house where he lives/the bookstore is located and he buys two properties in the year covered by the diary. It's also revealed that he's already a landlord. His being the owner of several properties and yet complaining about his financial situation rubbed me the wrong way. That annoyance grew after I realized that the reason the amount he makes selling his books online isn't disclosed is probably because he doesn't want the reader to know how much he actually makes.
Throughout his three diaries, Shaun makes his position as being anti-Amazon incredibly clear (which isn't a bad thing) and even goes as far as to belittle people with Kindles (because it's always fun to mock people who read in a different medium, right? wrong). In this installment, after getting his account banned from the site, the bookseller decides to boycott Amazon entirely based on his principles which, again, I do not think is a bad thing. However, I was appalled that after all of his Bezos-related rants, he'd buy books directly from a local white supremacist. Don't believe me? Here's the quote:
"the books were in a predicably filthy state, and their content was even more unsavory than their condition - Holocaust denial, extreme religious right, anti-abortion. After a while, I discovered that these were her books [...] I managed to salvage a handful of the most palatable titles"
A little more on the Kindle issue, it makes my blood boil when others get on their high horses to say that e-books are not real books, and this is coming from someone who loves physical books and has an extensive personal library. To advocate that people destroy their e-readers, as Shaun does, is not only exclusionary but also ableist. I'm Brazilian, there are SEVERAL books from other countries/in other languages that are only affordable/accessible as e-books. Furthermore, e-books are a great option for those who don't want/can't hold heavy physical books and/or need bigger fonts in order to read.
Although there are some fun facts (like the destiny of Napoleon's dick) and interesting publishing information (types of bindings and collections, etc), this was a huge letdown. It's safe to say I won't be picking up Bythell's next book (if there is one).