The Diary of a Bookseller

MONDAY, 19 MAY

Online orders: 5

Books found: 5

A customer came in at 10 a.m. and asked if we had anything on the surnames of Scotland, so I directed him to Black’s Surnames of Scotland. He looked at it briefly, then told me that it was ‘too comprehensive’. Once he had left, the shop was empty so I went to the post office and asked Wilma if she would mind sending the postman over later. William the surly Ulsterman completely blanked my ‘Good morning, William. Isn’t it a lovely day?’

When I returned to the shop, there was a young couple waiting at the counter with two boxes of books, all modern fiction in mint condition. They had recently married and were moving into their first flat together, and had agreed to each halve their book collections. The situation seemed charmingly old-fashioned. I gave them £45 for the books.

A customer brought a few books to the counter, including a very tatty facsimile of Burns’s Kilmarnock edition. The total came to £14.50 – no haggling. I asked him if he would like a bag, to which he replied, ‘Probably.’ I am quite certain that is the first time anyone has given that answer in the shop.

The postman arrived at just before 5 p.m. and collected the five sacks of random books.

Till total £110.99

15 customers