Hello! Hello! I am returned! Did you miss me? Did it get to the weekend and you thought, hang on, I have NO idea what happened in the bookshop on Friday?! Were you concerned you’d missed something tremendously mundane? Well, I was sitting by a rooftop pool in the south of France with my first Piña Colada of the year and I did not care about the bookshop one bit. I was in Nice, pronounced like Nice the biscuit, if you pronounce Nice the biscuit like the place, Nice, in France. Anyway, it was very nice.
But that was then, this is now! Coffee instead of cocktails, base layer+sweater+jacket instead of a t-shirt. It’s just about Spring enough for the sun to be shining, but temperature-wise, it’s still soup for lunch. Also it’s blowing a gale outside so everyone is holding on to their hats. The other day my husband’s hat blew off and it was beanie! Anyway, let’s get on with this, shall we? You haven’t got all day - but I have. Urgh.
First person comes in while I’m in the back hanging my coat up. I haven’t even switched the lights on yet! Oh wait, it’s just the postie leaving a bill on the desk. I’ve been away a whole week and I’ve not been sent one single unmissable proof of the latest whip-smart novel by this year’s literary sensation or anything! I used to complain about getting too many proofs so really this is a good thing, and it’s not like I’m short of things to read… but maybe one little present to open would have been nice.
Do you ever want to go in any bookshops?
Nah.
“It’s never too early for books!” A six week old baby is having its first visit to the bookshop - the dad read about us in the paper so I had to explain once again that we’re not actually one of the top ten best bookshops in the UK. Anyway, they’re new to St. Annes and now they know where we are! Baby got two books and a wooden badger. “We’ll be back!” they said, which is the best way to say goodbye.
Postie comes back. “I found a sneaky one I’d missed - for Katie Clapham?” Sorry, that’s me, I say, feeling somehow responsible for the sneakiness of this particular envelope. Anyway, inside was a sampler for the new Roasting Tin book from Rukmini Iyer who edibly changed my life with her books (#tinlads forever). This next one - The Green Cookbook - is out in June so perhaps the idea of eating cold salad will be welcome by then. *cuddles hot cup*
Book club member comes into collect this month’s book which is Soldier, Sailor by Claire Kilroy and we swooned over her plans for a quiet afternoon with nothing to do but sit and read this book. I’m going to read this one this weekend too, but if you’re reading/have read it - the discussion thread is already open here. Join us!
I’ll go now. I just don’t like leaving once I’m in!
Delivery has been today so I’ve got some customers to ring round and some new books to have a sneaky peek through. Some lovely new young graphic novels in today’s order that I’m going to have a browse of while the bookshop is empty including Unicorn Boy, Monkey King and the World of Myths, Hayao Miyazaki’s Shuna’s Journey and Hooky.
A man walking past suddenly grabs the door frame of the bookshop and says “Fxxking Hell” and leaves. No comment, which is what I could have done with from him.
Child being wheeled out of the shop in pushchair “Wait a minute!!!” He spied a book he wanted, “It’s a SUPER WORM!” Grandparent duly purchases Superworm and hands the little boy the book “I’ve never had this one before,” he says, and that’s why it’s ok to judge books by their covers.
It’s bloody freezing, by the way. April. APRIL. SPRING??? My fingers are frozen and my ankles hurt. What has happened to Spring?? (man outside in shorts, btw)
I risk nipping to the bathroom as the shop has been quiet for hours and of course, someone enters the shop while I’m in there. “I don’t know if this book is out in paperback yet?” she says as I come out still drying my hands. “Hi!” I say, startled. “You Are Here by David Nicholls?” she says. Lady, this book isn’t even out in hardback yet! But I’m excited to talk about it. I say, hopefully, “it publishes next week in hardback so it could be months or even a full year until the paperback BUT…it’s wonderful. You could hang on for the paperback and the words would be the same, but I wouldn’t want to wait that long. I loved it, loved it, loved it!!!!” Ok, she says, and leaves.
I wrote a full post about this book, which I really did love, earlier this week:
Customer comes in looking for the book after The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Larsson, I say scanning the shelves backwards through the M section towards L. Mmm, no, I don’t think we have it, I say, before I even actually get to L because it suddenly feels like years since I said the words Stieg Larsson, let alone sold or ordered one of his books. For some reason instead of just looking through the correct part of the shelf, I decide to check the catalogue to remind me of the spine’s colour; “The Girl Who Played with Fire - it’s blue!” I say, just as the customer, whose head was right at L-for-Larsson-level says “It’s here!!”. She triumphantly buys it and we’re both delighted to discover that I don’t know what’s on my own shelves after all.
A lady in a bobble hat comes in and says she’s looking for a book on dogs. “Breeds and things.” “Hmm, I don’t know that we’ve got anything that’s going to be right” I say, before producing the DK Eyewitness pocket guide to dogs. She’s delighted, not only is it exactly the sort of book she wanted, it’s also the perfect size and it’s only a fiver. Once again, I’m amazed by my own stock. Maybe this is one of the best bookshops in the UK? Just forget about that time two minutes ago when I couldn’t do the alphabet.
2.16 pm OMG TRUMPET GUY IS BACK AND HE’S PLAYING MORE THAN THREE NOTES THIS TIME. (Tortured Trumpet Dept.)
Customer comes in to buy The House Hold by
- I mentioning it specifically because Stacey’s Substack Housekeeping is really good.Delivery and it’s our signed indie editions of… You Are Here by David Nicholls! They’re not for sale yet! This book is not out yet! Don’t try to buy this today! The indie editions will just be for in-store customers (sorry, there has to be some incentive to come to the bookshop!) but I promise you, the standard editions are still very yum and still have the actual novel inside, which is the vital part of the experience. Why do I keep going on about this book this week? I just have a crush on it okay!?
My hands are so cold I’m finding it quite challenging writing the orders down in the diary. BM is going to have fun deciphering these hieroglyphics next week!
Final customer of the day gives me another chance to seem totally inept. She is looking for the second book in the SJ Maas Court of Thrones and Roses series and I look on the shelf before declaring that sadly we only have book one in stock. “I asked about it last week but it wasn’t a definite order” [this always puts us in a predicament. do we order it? do we put it aside? will the customer ever come back?] Anyway, I go to the desk ready to take a gamble on ordering the book in this time; if she’s come back hoping it’s here again, seems like she really wants it. The Court of Mist… and Fury?! I say as I head back to the computer to actually order it this time. WAIT, THERE IT IS! It’s sitting on the customer order shelf, waiting on the whim of the maybe-customer! Huzzah! Another customer completely thrilled with the service even though I was on the verge of claiming that once again, we did not have a book in that we absolutely did. Honestly, would you believe me if I told you I once won an award for bookselling ??
You’ll notice as of today the newsletter has officially pivoted to the Receipt from the Bookshop as its overall title. This was a bit of a spur of the moment decision after I floated the idea on Notes and a few people agreed that it was obviously a better name. Don’t worry - my titles will still terrible, but maybe this is a more useful name going forward. The bookshop posts will always be free so please do share them with friends you think might enjoy them. Paid subscribers get access to my additional book reviews and essays, plus the book club discussion threads. If you want to support my bricks and mortar independent bookshop, buy a book through any of the links on this post. If you want to support me as a writer, upgrade your subscription to this newsletter. I really appreciate all the subs, shares, re-stacks and recommendations. See you next week!
Oh my gosh, stop explaining. You are ABSOLUTELY actually one of the top ten best bookshops in the UK. OWN IT.
I love this! I am having a week - culminating in a grumpy old lady telling me and my kid off for cycling on a cycle path - and kiddo and I had to come home and cuddle up on the sofa with a pack of shortbread and some therapeutic Octonaut viewing. I'm about to rejoin the world of the living and this was definitely a perk me up.