Beneath A Thousand Skies

Hello!

Finally getting back into it, after losing June to being ill with Covid, and a cough that just did not want to abandon ship (and lingers still). I’ve not read as much as a result, but now I have a holiday so hoping to rectify that and kickstart stuff here – and I still have a handful of reviews to catch up with from before I got ill.

And kicking things off with the one book I did manage to read after being ill, as it proved a nice easy commute read.

Receipts from the Bookshop was a wee bit of an impulse buy the other week, but there was something about the cover in the display of books about books that caught my attention. Plus, I am a bookseller – and I find a strange joy in reading about the weird and wonderful happenings of other bookshops and being able to sit there and go ‘oh yes, I’ve had that happen’ – and in that sense this book did not disappoint.  Clapham captures the quirks and challenges of running a small bookshop in a humorous and largely endearing way, from moments between regular customers, and new customers, to the comments about bookshops as people go sailing gaily past.

‘A lady approaches the desk. “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?’

It was an easy read, broken down into almost-diary entries with little asides and quotes (usually of those people wandering by), and broken into months; and I loved seeing the seasonality of it, but also the community around the bookshop. No bookshop can be an island, and even if it was largely contained to the bookshop – we got to see local events, characters and I ended up incredibly jealous of the patisserie opening so close! (I say with a lovely bakers right next to my bookshop)

The one element that did sour the experience a little bit for me, was pointed mentions of self-publishing and self-published authors; and part of it was probably me being a bit sensitive on the issue. It was never I think deliberately dismissive, and from the economic view of running a small independent bookshop in the current economy on one level I do get it; and there is an awareness of the difference between local interest and authors, but it felt like it came up a little too often. And each time it pulled me out of my enjoyment. Like I said, I feel like that might be more on me, and others might not notice it as much, but it did stick with me even after I finished the book.

My annoyance with the attitude towards self-publishing aside, I really enjoyed this book. It was a lovely reminder of the joy of a bookshop, for all ages, and the weird and wonderful things that can go on around books and customers. Clapham has created a love letter to bookshops and books and reading and the connections they can create, but also does not hesitate to highlight just how challenging it is to run a bookshop in this economy, with places like Amazon available at the press of a mouse, to the rising costs (for customer and seller) and of course the more mundane day to day challenges of weather, doors…and sometimes just not being able to find the blasted book! An engaging and informative read, which offers an insight to bookselling for those outside that role, and will have booksellers nodding along.