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  • Seven Kinds of People You Find in Bookshops

  • By: Shaun Bythell
  • Narrated by: Peter Kenny
  • Length: 2 hrs
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (87 ratings)
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Seven Kinds of People You Find in Bookshops cover art

Seven Kinds of People You Find in Bookshops

By: Shaun Bythell
Narrated by: Peter Kenny
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Summary

Everyone knows who you find in bookshops: people who want to buy books. But, as Shaun Bythell, author of the best-selling Diary of a Bookseller and Confessions of a Bookseller, reveals, that's really only half the story.

Join Shaun as he introduces us to seven bookshop characters, from the Person Who Doesn't Know What They Want (But Thinks It Might Have a Blue Cover) to the harried Parents Secretly After Free Childcare and all the way over to the erotica section, where we'll meet The Person Who Is Up to No Good.

Affectionate, sardonic and laugh-out-loud funny, Seven Kinds of People You Find in Bookshops is your indispensable guide to the flora and fauna of your local bookshop.

©2020 Shaun Bythell (P)2020 Hachette Audio UK

What listeners say about Seven Kinds of People You Find in Bookshops

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Superb as usual

I enjoyed this book a lot. The only problem is that it's so short. Really witty and interesting. I was trying to figure out which of the categories I'd fit into. Looking forward to Shauns next book already

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

It’s a bit short

Good book, but short. That is the reason for dropping a star. Hopefully, we will get a proper length book again at some point.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Amusing (if not full length) exposé

Not a full-length exposé but an amusing case study of bookshop 'types'.

It'll probably annoy a few that see themselves in Shaun's lists, but really this is a light-hearted chuckle, exposing the stereotypes of the typical bookshop visitors, from the tutters and those haggling over prices to the exhausted parents trying to get a moment to themselves, with an embarrassed secret-erotic reader thrown in there for good measure.

Split into subsections with literary Latin titles, it's smile-inducing and wryly funny. As a library worker, I can relate to a lot of the categories. But hopefully not see myself in any of them!

Enjoyed listening to this, an easy and short listen that usefully set itself into chunks and was very easy to follow. A chatty tone suited the audiobook.

I also liked hearing snippets about the author, who now has a young family, and little clues about how the world of the bookshop is doing in the last couple of years. Nice to hear that Bythell isn't averse to lampooning his own staff too - I trust they got their own back at some point!

Pleasant way to spend a few hours. I look forward to a longer volume next time as we delve back into the shop shelves.

With thanks to Nudge Books for providing a sample Audible copy.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Gentle

So nice to read a book that doesn't rely on sex and or violence to captivate. This is a gentle and easy going read. I should rate this book 4 stars (because it is so short) but I really, really enjoyed the book so much. It gave me a warm fuzzy feeling!

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

A disappointed fan.

I thoroughly enjoyed Shaun’s first two books - Diary of a bookseller and Confessions of a bookseller.

This book was very short (over 2 hours) and it seemed like Shaun threw a few ideas together, it feels like a half hearted effort. If you can buy this book when it’s on offer I would say go for it but I certainly wouldn’t recommend using a precious credit on it.

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3 people found this helpful