Image Courtesy of Goodreads
From Goodreads
Customer: Have you read every single book in here?
Bookseller: No, I can’t say I have.
Customer: Well, you’re not very good at your job, are you?
A simple Twitter question posed by John Cleese-”What is your pet peeve?” -inspired Jen Campbell to start a blog collecting all the ridiculous conversations overheard in her bookstore, everything from “Did Beatrix Potter ever write a book about dinosaurs?” to the hunt for a paperback which could forecast the next year’s weather; from “I’ve forgotten my glasses, please read me the first chapter” to “Excuse me … is this book edible?”; and from “Can books conduct electricity?” to “My children are just climbing your bookshelves: that’s ok… isn’t it?”
If we didn’t know it already, this irresistible book is proof positive that booksellers are heroes, the world over.
Cover Gushing Worthiness: I think the cover for this book is delightful. It’s quirky and cartoony in the way that I like. It really is a good reflection of the book.
Review: I first heard about the book through goodreads and then it appeared again on my wordpress reader thanks to Clair from The Captive Reader when she shared some of her favourite quotes.So this isn’t really a review for the book because I don’t think it’s the type of book you can necessarily review, but I thought I’d share some of my favourite quotes from it. Also the illustrations in this book made me laugh out loud as well. They were done with such good humour.
Customer: Where’s your true fiction section?
Customer: Do you have a copy of Nineteen Eighty-Six?
Bookseller: Nineteen Eighty-Six?
Customer: Year. Orwell
Bookseller: Oh. Nineteen Eighty-Four.
Customer: No, I’m sure it’s Nineteen Eighty-Six; I’ve always remembered because it’s the year I was born.
Bookseller…
Now this one…I’m having a hard time getting my head around it.
Five-year-old-girl: Mommy, I could stay in here all day!
Mother: I don’t know why you read; it’ll never get you anywhere.
This was one was really sad in my opinion.
Customer:Hi, I just wanted to ask: did Anne Frank ever write a sequel?
Bookseller:…
Customer: I really enjoyed her first book.
Bookseller: Her Diary?
Customer: Yes, the diary.
Bookseller: Her diary wasn’t fictional.
Customer: Really?
Bookseller:Yes…She really dies at the end- that’s why the diary finishes. She was taken to a concentration camp.
Customer: Oh…that’s terrible
Bookseller: Yes, it’s awful.
Customer: I mean, it’s such a shame, you know? She was such a good writer.
This was in “The Adult Section” part of the book.
Customer: Do you have a restricted section?
I can probably go on and on about most of the quotes in this book, but I’m going to let you guys read this for yourself. If you’re interested you can check out Jen Campbell’s blog here
My Rating: 5/5
Would I recommend it? Absolutely
Oh this sounds fantastic! It’s not something I would immediately be drawn to, but I love the quotes you shared and think I could spend a good couple of hours flicking through this. And I agree about the cover. It’s brilliant! I especially love that Neil Gaiman’s quoted on the front.
Thanks for sharing, Savindi!
Thanks for stopping by and commenting Sam!I’m sorry for the late reply! I hope you enjoy it when you do read it. I can’t wait till the sequel for this comes out sometime this year.
I absolutely love these quotes. You have taken some spectacular ones. I laughed at the one with the date of birth. And oh my god, how can people be so ignorant about Anne Frank?! I’m never usually one for reading these, I tend to flick through them in the bookstore for a quick laugh.
This one however sounds particularly good and you’ve sold me with the restricted section comment. I’d probably do something like that for a laugh though. haha.
This definitely cheered me up, Savindi so thank you!
Thanks for stopping by and commenting Olivia! I’m sorry for the late reply! Ahaha I’m glad you liked the quotes
. There are SO many that I adored in this book. I was really surprised by people not knowing about Anne Frank as well. I would definitely recommend it, I think illustrations really do add a little bit of ‘ommph’ to it. Some of them are downright laugh out loud. I know right! Gotta love Harry Potter references in the adult section of bookstores. There was another one where a customer asked “do you have a dark arts section” or something like that.
I’m glad it cheered you up! Hope you’re keeping well!
No problem. Ahhh they just get better then! Thanks, hope you are too. I’m much cheerier today after getting some good results from my January exams!
Congratulations Olivia!
That’s so awesome!! You must be so thrilled!
Thanks, Savindi! I guess I am…. I don’t know.. I just don’t seem to be feeling very much about it.
This one looks so good! The combination of the quirky, cartoon-like cover and your positive review makes it a must-read for me. Just from the quotes you’ve posted I can forecast that it will be a good one…
Thanks for stopping by and commenting
. It certainly is good! I do hope you enjoy it when you get a chance to read it! I’m really excited for the sequel as well.
There’s this saying in Chinese that basically describes a situation in which you don’t know whether to laugh or to cry. Perfectly applicable in my case, after reading those quotes.
Looks like a fantastic book though because just those quote samplers were enough to get me laughing (or else shaking my head sadly…. the Anne Frank situation…. really??). Glad you shared this with us, Savindi. 
Thanks for stopping by and commenting Lillian! I’m sorry for the late reply! I think the Anne Frank one has definitely got a lot of people baffled. It’s quite strange too because her name is so universal. Even if you didn’t know the exact circumstances of what happened, you’d know her name anywhere. I hope you get a chance to pick this one up. There were more quotes from Booksellers from the States and from Canada too which was really cool
Now I want to read this
Thanks for stopping by and commenting Mel
. You definitely have to read it! It’s fantastic 
.
I’m honestly shocked about the Anne Frank anecdote. Perhaps it’s because I’m Dutch and I can’t remember a time when I didn’t know about Anne Frank because her story is such an important part of our history. But I’ve always assumed that most people had at least heard of her and knew that hers is a true story. But other than that it sounds like a fun little book and I definitely want to read it!
Thanks for stopping by and commenting
The Anne Frank anecdote was quite surprising to me too. Even when I lived in Sri Lanka I had heard of Anne Frank. I admit that I didn’t know all the circumstances which surrounded her, but I had heard about her. I can tell you that I never thought her story was fictional 
.But yes it was surprising to me as well. The other one that surprised me was the Jane Eyre quote. I did raise my eyebrows at that one. It was a fun read 
. Will you be picking it up soon? Oh and did you hear back from Peachtree Publishers?
I have to admit I haven’t emailed them yet. Things have been kind of hectic around here these last few days, so I kind of forgot. I’ll try to remember to email them tomorrow. Either way I’ll let you know
No worries! Let me know when you hear back from them
. So are you going to be starting your masters in September? Oh and I’ll let you know how Tariq Ramadan’s talk is! It’s this coming Friday.