Hello! Hallo! Hola! It’s Friday and I’m back in the bookshop with my coffee, milk for tea, sandwich for lunch and a Kinder Bueno (half for today, half for tomorrow) so this is already shaping up to be a decent day. The sun is shining and the air is exactly the temperature that means some people can be in a sundresses and flip flops and other people are in puffer jackets and hats, and both of them are correct. I don’t think we can really call it an Indian Summer day, but it’s definitely nicer than some of the days we had in July. Business Mum is enroute home but because she’s on a cruise ship she won’t be docking in the bookshop until Monday and then people can stop asking me if she’s having a nice time on her holiday and she can tell them herself that she did.
Not much else to tell you at the top of the day, let’s hope we can shift some books and make up for the fact I was closed some extra time this week in BM’s absence. Ready…steady….go!!!!
First customer is a nice chap who wants to order a copy of David McCloskey’s Damascus Station (which my catalogue says is ‘THE BEST SPY THRILLER OF THE YEAR’) and the forthcoming Jonathan Coe. The customer didn’t know it was a November release and does the very decent thing of pre-ordering the hardback and adding another paperback to his order to keep him going until Coe arrives. Excellent.
A couple come in to buy the copy of Try by Rob Burrow and Kevin Sinfield that was in the window. Do you need a bag? I ask, and the man says no, I can put it in this - a new school bag from the uniform shop around the corner. I love the idea that a little boy is getting home from school tonight to be presented with a brand new school bag that already has a book inside! You know how people say you should gift a purse with a coin inside it, I think you should gift a bag with a book in it. And don’t worry about the bag.
A lady phones to tell me she’ll be in tomorrow to collect her books. She tried to come on Wednesday but she couldn’t get parked in town. “That’s alright”, I say, “we were closed anyway.”
Her, to husband: “Oh my god. Can you believe that they’ve got that in here? I’ve never even seen that anywhere. I can’t believe they’ve got that. That’s mad that. I’ve never even seen it!”
Me, curious now: “What is it?”
Her: “That Moomin wrapping paper! I love Moomins! (leaves without purchasing Moomin wrapping paper. Or anything.)
A lady being pushed up the hill in a wheelchair demands to be wheeled back so she can take a photo of the Moomins in the window.
Postman arrives with an armful of parcels and they’re all lovely books for me. Here’s my stash today.
Gliff by Ali Smith - I once stumbled across Ali Smith in conversation with Tessa Hadley at an art gallery in Copenhagen and I fell in love with her and then proceeded to read absolutely none of her novels. I did read one a long long time ago, but I must must must read her again. So this proof is one I really want to make time for because I absolutely believe the comment on the cover which says her ‘novels soar higher every time.’ I bet she’s a favourite of my future.Do you ever feel that way about writers? That if you just read them, you’d be obsessed with them?
The Place of Tides by James Rebanks - now, I, have not read Rebanks’ very popular shepherd books but I really like the sound of this book about working with an old woman on a remote Norwegian island. Mostly because one day I hope to be an old woman on a remote Norwegian island.
Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner - now shortlisted for The Booker Prize. I bought The Hard Crowd ages ago and still haven’t read it, but I’m glad I’ve been sent a copy of this because it sounds really unusual and not immediately like something I’d read and yet that is always where I end up having the most fun. I hope I read this! I hope I love it!
The City and its Uncertain Walls by Murakami - Ok, I did not get one of the fancy holographic proofs, but I guess I am not an established Murakami fan. I’ve read some, some time ago. I think I liked it? It’s absolutely time to try some more. And this one seems to be about books! It’s got a library! A dream library.
A lady asks which way it is to our ‘Moomin department’. I knew this window was going to cause trouble.
“I’ve got a cauliflower.”
(incredulous) “You’ve not! Have you really, got a cauliflower?”
A lady comes into buy the Moomin calendar from the window display “Can I just buy it before I see anything else?” she says. Ha, not likely.
Next customer wants to order a hardback copy of Di Lampedusa’s The Leopard. “I lent my copy to a friend twelve years ago and I’ve realised I’m not getting it back.”
It’ll either be in tomorrow or Monday, I say. “There’s no rush” she replies “I’ve waited this long.”
A man outside points to the bookshop and says “I’m sure this is where they used to have ice cream.” Not in the last 14 years they haven’t, and not before that either.
A man I have never seen before stands at the door of the bookshop and leans in waiting until I look up. He smiles, sheepishly… … … “I love the Moomins.”
One of my favourite shoppers comes in with his latest list. He seems to exclusively order classy current fiction that he’s read good reviews of in the paper, i.e. a dream customer. Today he wants Kushner, Boyd, Dwyer-Hickey and Self. All hardbacks. Thank you so much.
My son’s reading a book but I can’t remember what it’s called. Do you know how many books there are in the series?
I was getting a bit concerned that only half my order of Intermezzo stock had arrived at the shop so I decided to drop my rep an email to see where the rest was. The second after I pressed send, the delivery arrived. Now that’s service!
Dull part of the day so I cut down the cardboard and decompressed all of the protective packing. But not before wearing it like a giant scarf that I would definitely buy in Cos if it was burgundy and cost £79.
So on Saturday one thing that happened (that I didn’t write about because I was still stressed about it) was that a card payment failed at a pivotal moment during a book token transaction. I was loading the book token with some credit but then when the card payment failed, the transaction was interrupted and later when I took the payment I handed over what was in fact… a book token with zero credit on it. Of course, I did not realise this until much later, when the customer was long gone. I didn’t know her name or how I’d find her. I thought about putting a sign in the window saying ‘DID I SELL YOU AN EMPTY BOOK TOKEN? PLEASE CALL ME'.’ I even wrote a note for BM that said if a girl with long dark hair came back and claimed I’d sold her an empty book token - she’d be telling the truth. I felt sure I’d see the girl again at some point to explain, but of course, I worried about it all weekend.
Anyway, the end of the story is that she returned today and was not at all mad at me because she knew the transaction had been complicated so many times with the multiple payment attempts that something was bound to go wrong. Her card company had frozen her card after a suspicious transaction because she’d suddenly bought something in a hardware store! (Sexism!!) Anyway, I gave her a new book token with the credit on that I owed her and now I can actually sleep peacefully tonight for crying out. She was so nice about it and even bought a book - actually, it was another one by that writer who wrote the THRILLER OF THE YEAR SAID THE TIMES, David McCloskey, so perhaps they really are good…
Time to go. Definitely time to go home. This feels like a short Receipt this week. Do you feel short-changed? Did not much happen, or did just a lot of normal stuff happen that wasn’t interesting enough to write down… you’ll never know!!! As usual, your favourite bookseller (me) is grateful for all your likes, shares, restacks and recommendations. Hope you have a great weekend.
Wow! ‘Her card company had frozen her card after a suspicious transaction because she’d suddenly bought something in a hardware store! (Sexism!!)´
I wonder if anyone was later getting card-queried for buying Moomin merch out of the blue!
So glad I’ve found you. How lovely to hear all about what goes on in the shop and get ideas for books to read as well.