Receipt from the Bookshop #15
19 books sold today but some of them were spenny hardbacks and 6 of those transactions were real life cash money. Here's what else:
Hello, it is I, your friendly patient, joyful, disinterested1 neighbourhood spiderman book peddler and this is the next update live from the bookshop.
Delighted to inform you the bookshop has comfortably reached additional tank top temperature, which means it’s only a few short degrees drop until I can return to my preferred state of Persistently Turtleneck’d.2 Thanks to everyone who bought a book from us remotely this week, it made a big difference to our takings and we really appreciate it - I particularly hope whoever bought
‘s The Hero of this Book enjoys it as much as I did - one of my books of the year, for sure.These posts will remain free, with comments open so you can send me queries like ‘What are your other Books of the Year?’3 and ‘It is Turtleneck or Polo neck, though?4’
Arrived at the bookshop, coffee and keys in hand to find a lady already waiting at the step. “Are you open?” She asked, as I unlocked the shop. We went in and I hurried around turning on lights and throwing my bag and coat onto the desk like Miranda Priestley, suddenly concerned that I’d accidentally taken 20 minutes to decide if I wanted to indulge in the Winter Blend at Nero. Checked my watch and found an unhelpfully bare wrist; you see, we open at 10 am. Anyway, the lady was very nice and ordered a book, delighted that she’d caught me because she “usually walks past before we open.” It was 9.40 am.
Our current window display is PINK. This was to advertise a breast cancer charity night we did with local author, Carole Paterson. I can’t take any credit for this, Business Mum organised and hosted this event earlier this week, which raised over £300 for Breast Cancer Now. Before we put our Halloween window display in, please note where she ran out of pink letters and had to improvise. Top marks, Mum.
*solemnly* Oh yeah, breast cancer awareness.
Passing youth, openly smoking a spliff.
Text from Business Mum who is in supermarket to tell me the new Walliams HB is £6 there. Sigh, yes. It’s £14.99 here, and we haven’t got it.
Delivery’s here but it’s just a little top-up order, so not much excitement. It does have the new edition of Gabrielle Zevin’s Young Jane Young though, which sounds great and now has snappy cover to match Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, which by the way, if you’re still resisting reading, just don’t. Just let yourself have this good thing. It’s really wonderful. Also in the delivery is loads of Robert Galbraith because people just really love those thousand page paperbacks. *shudder* Oh, and we’ve got that Walliams in now, too. Urgh. Let’s end on a high - last item unpacked is Leanne Shapton’s Important Artifacts and Personal Property from the Collection of Lenore Doolan and Harold Morris, Including Books, Street Fashion and Jewelry which I’d had on my wishlist for years and then
recommended it at our event last month and I remembered to actually buy it. So while this is certainly the most interesting thing in the delivery today, it won’t even make it to the shelves of the bookshop, because it’s for me. Sorry!I’ve got this month’s Pinboard Proof Parcel from Pan Macmillan to open. Let’s unbox!
Ok, there’s a proof of Death on the Lusitania by R. L. Graham, a locked door whodunnit set aboard a luxury ocean liner in 1915. Unfortunately the words ‘murder’ and ‘cruise’ make me think of this article my friend (and literary agent, Louise Lamont, LBA) sent me yesterday when she found out I didn’t know about The Gone Girl Cruise. I didn’t know about The Gone Girl Cruise! But now I do, and I’m so glad about that, thank you LL. Anyway, this murder cruise book sounds like a decent caper and the proof indicates finished copies will have page artwork with MAPS and a helpful character list.
Next up is Maude Horton’s Glorious Revenge by Lizzie Pook, set in 1850 this one also has a ship in it and thrillingly, it is set for The Arctic! It’s also got some grizzly London underbelly (yuck) and secrets buried by sinister forces if you’re into those sorts of things. The book opens with a quote from Gwendolyn MacEwan’s play Terror and Erebus5 and you know how I feel about The Terror.
Third proof is… another crime, this time its the Lead Debut (ka-ching!), so the proof is a lot bigger. No boats this time though (boo), it’s got antiques and an eccentric aunt instead. Written by the daughter of Judith and Martin Miller (I’ve googled them and the answer is Antiques on TV) this is a cosy crime perfect for fans of Ozymandias Richard Osman. It’s called The Antique Hunter’s Guide to Murder, of course and in Spring next year it’s probably going to be absolutely everywhere.
Finally, there’s a YA title from a Tikety Tok Sensation. It’s called A Tempest of Tea, and it’s ‘an intoxicating brew of secrets, vampire and romance’, so we’re doing that again. This is the new novel from Hafsah Faizal, for fans of Leigh Bardugo, and magical stuff. Anyway, time for an intoxicating brew of teabag and milk for this bookshop gal. Abraaaaaaaaaaaaa-waits for kettle to boil-aaacadabra!
That’s a book…shop
Hey, it’s Paul Simon’s birthday. Not a bookshop moment as such, but let us take a moment in the bookshop for Paul, because this bookseller loves his music so very much. To make it Book, here’s a link to a good one that he’s in.
A few customer orders collected including three hardback Terry Pratchett books (£££) and the latest Sophie Kinsella (surprisingly ££). This seems like a decent run of sales so I’m putting the heating on for half an hour because my feet are freeeeezing.
A little boy chooses a First Marvel Book to start a collection. He say’s he’s going to come and get a new one each week. First pick was Iron Man, sounds reasonable to me. Wouldn’t it be great to come and pick up a new book after school every Friday? Some kids just live the life. She says, as she treats herself to a new book literally every single Friday. Some adults also live the life. That bookshop discount life.
Him: Did you see me trip up just then?
Her: no?
(Me: yup)
Tomorrow in the UK it’s Bookshop Day, which means we’ll have this years Books Are My Bag tote for sale; this year it’s designed by Poonam Mistry and it looks like this:
Bookshop Day is a good day to start your Christmas shopping, because a book is ALWAYS THE PERFECT PRESENT. Supporting your local bookshop, or any indie bookshop is so vital to the continued presence of books on the high street. If you don’t have a bookshop local to you, finding an independent bookshop to order online with is a great way to support a small business. Of course, Bookshop Day is also a perfect day to just go and buy a bag full of books for yourself. I mean, maybe you buy them because you want to read them and then you read them very carefully and gift them at Christmas anyway? Who’s to say that’s wrong? WHO WOULD KNOW!?
Little girl in the bookshop casually wearing a crown, nbd.
*pointing at a book*
Oh look, it’s whatshisname….Oh, no it’s not.
Last sale of the day is another of the Marvel board books because like The Incredible Avenginators, or Marvel as a franchise, IT CANNOT BE STOPPED. Jokes aside these board books are absolutely cracking - super thick and chunky, and retro cool. An excellent present for any little person who has been relentlessly tormented by an onslaught of merchandising for films they are too small to see.
You can support my bricks and mortar bookshop by buying your books via this link, and you can support me as a writer by taking out a paid sub to this Substack. Thanks.
Oscar Isaac said that’s what he tries to be, because Jeremy Strong gave him this poem, and I find that very Jeremy Strong of him.
name of my memoir
I’ll do that in December.
Glad you asked, I actually call the type I wear ‘Polo necks’, because I think of the turtleneck as a single layer tubular stand up sort of collar, while a Polo neck would be thicker, and folded-over (what this has to do with Polo, I have no idea, and of course a Polo shirt is something entirely different, so perhaps the turtleneck is a more useful term overall?) Anyway, Uniqlo call all their high-necked tops ‘turtlenecks’ and that’s where I buy mine, plus it’s a much funnier word.
I didn’t know this play existed and did not expect to find the entire script on Google but as I have, I might as well share it with you!
Another cracker! Love Paul Simon too!! ❤️
Ahhh! The Leanne Shapton is one of my favourite books of all time. So glad you’re about to read it