the bookshop

this was a subject given at my local writers group.

the bookshop……..writers group 4.10.2011

 

　

the bookshop comes around every week at present, and i enjoy spending two days of my week there.

i am in with the dusty tomes, the ceiling and floors both missing , the books stacked wall to wall on temporary tables……..perfect!

many a holiday maker, mainly women, longing for some escape

from their tedious lives…or those lost souls searching for surrogate love or some romance in their lacklustre lives….looking for what i call the twoddle novels; barbara cartland and authors unknown…and never to be known again, anonymously noted for their lack of ‘serious’ writing.

or those prospective buyers that ask me to pick a novel for their friend or family member, as if i already know them well and would be able to read their minds as to what would suit them. i am not a mind reader…well i am, in truth….but not for that purpose. and so i try to quietly hand the choice back to them so they will not come in tomorrow saying i picked entirely the wrong book…..what fun!

i smile quietly at the grandparents who come in to buy books for their childrens’ children. the ones who feel guilty that they never made time to read to their children, but feel vindicated somehow that they can now read to their grandchildren with zealous greed. oh they are so self righteous sometimes…….thinking i don’t know their dirty little secrets of being ’too busy’ or ’too tired’ trying to be supermum…another generation of potential readers lost….

and then there are the local echo friendly, greenie types who want books about 4000 ways to compost, or how to how to build a safe environment for their loud, miscreant out of control children. mmmm ..and i just thought they should be locked up out of sight and sound.. well that’s what i learned after all. is there really a new book out that tells them how to be the oh so perfect environmentally friendly, guilt free parent? we don’t have it…sorry….try online…woops!

and then there are the fiction groupies who read the latest novels of the latest authors who have written several different trilogies, of which we never have the right books in the right order…and demand that i should recite all the books, in the correct order and series…and know which one has just been released, and why don’t we have it right now?

phew…oh curse the loyal fictionites….

　

there are a few however, who profess some intelligence and only read non-fiction ,who are looking for the latest or remotest books on neuroplasticity, pni or the historical significance of the latter part of the pre-dynasty of the outer hebredian sub species of the…what? oh dear…

i think i might be included in that group….

time to add up the money, tidy the books, switch off the lights and gather up my personal pile of book purchases and lock the doors……all in a days work at the bookshop…….wow....its not so bad…booksorts are generally nice people…they can read after all….

and i even get to read on the job…

time to go home, cook dinner and curl up with a good book…what more could i ask?

Author's Note

close to my heart as i manage a bookshop exactly like this!

Reviews

[Rosalind Gale]

"The historical significance of the latter part of the pre-dynasty of the outer hebredian sub species of the…" Dear Brigid, you have made me smile and laugh with that line alone. Thank you - and thank you for the story, I enjoyed it.

[patricia]

if i ever get money, i will get my own second hand book shop, and i will never throw a book out because of its condition, i worked in a charity shop for the homeless where the boss threw out all the rare books because they looked shabby, and kept all the soon forgotten clean novels. loved your reflections on this. thanks.