Remainders of the Day

More Diaries from The Bookshop, Wigtown

De: Shaun Bythell

Narrado por: Peter Kenny

New from the author of Confessions of a Bookseller and Seven Kinds of People You Find in Bookshops, another hilariously grumpy year behind the counter at The Bookshop. Though diaries of daily life, Shaun Bythell has created an endearing and cozy world for booklovers, a warm and welcome memoir of a life in books.

The Bookshop in Wigtown, Scotland, is a booklover’s paradise, with thousands of books across nearly a mile of shelves, a real log fire, and Captain, the portly bookshop cat. You’d think that after twenty years, owner Shaun Bythell would be used to his quirky customers by now. Don’t get him wrong, there are some good ones among the antiquarian porn-hunters, die-hard train book lovers, people who confuse bookshops for libraries, and the toddlers just looking for a nice cozy corner in which to wee. He’s sure there are some good ones. There must be …

Filled with the pernickety warmth and humor that has touched audiences around the world, stuffed with literary treasures, hidden gems, and incunabula, Remainders of the Day is a warm and welcome memoir of a life in books.

If you’re new to Shaun Bythell’s bestselling series, this is a great place to start. If you’re one of Bythell’s legion of fans, welcome back to The Bookshop.

©2022 Shaun Bythell (P)2022 Profile Audio

Carried me along in an unexpectedly enchanting way

This is the first book of this type that I have read, being nonfiction, journal type, chronological with data. I was reminded of a post-apocalyptic lit RPG that I had read. That might seem an odd comparison, but the lit RPG Style had a similar rhythm, with the bits of data at the beginning of chapters narrating the day-to-day lives of the survivors. Such is this narrative.

I've never longed to run a bookstore, although I have enjoyed TV shows and movies with a bookstore theme. I envy the author his life, his relationship with his community, his atypical relationship with his grandmother, and the very honest comfort that he seems to have with his world. Much appreciated. Thank you.

Sorry to see it end

When I could tell the end of the book was coming soon, I felt sad that I’d being saying goodbye to the Book Shop and Wigtown. I’m captivated by this town, the shop, the regulars mentioned in the book. I’ve long been in love with Scotland , and this book series gives one more reason to love it. Out of curiosity, I looked up the nearby shop The Open Book and would really love to spend some time there. I hope the Book Shop does a bustling trade for decades to come!

I must note again that the narrator speaks very quickly. I turned the playback speed down to 85%, and it was a much more pleasant read.

Notes from Bookshop heaven

Enormous fun to be had in the pages of Shaun Blythell’s Diaries, & in the reading performance of Peter Kenny… more, please!

Delightful

I love his writing style and the narrators voice. It makes me want to keep listening. I hope he writes more books.

Follow the seasons in the boots of a Scottish bookseller

More diary entries from the Bookstore in Wigton. What I love about reading, and particularly listening, to the day-to-day happenings of small town life in Scotland and the ups-and-downs of bookstore work, is the sloweness that follows the seasons and the quietude that it allows you to sink into. There is something nostalgic about this and it’s old world setting especially for us Americans living fast paced lives and to hear it read is downright cathartic. While Shaun Blythell certainly does not romanticize the book trade in the slightest he does afford us the opportunity to spend a year in his shoes and enjoy the highs of a great find and the lows of Amazon’s kafkaesque online world, replete with Blythell’s dry, witty humor. When this book is at its best, it’s tying together quotes from books he found in his bookstore with his own experience as a bookseller to critique Amazon. When it’s not at its best, it feels like somewhat disjointed entries on random topics. Nevertheless it is always worth a listen and is easy enough to get hooked on. Hope there are more books of his to come!