Receipts From the Bookshop: A Bookseller’s Year (Hardback) Katie Clapham (author)

Many of us dream of owning a bookshop, but for Katie Clapham it happened by accident, when she moved back to the seaside town she grew up in and went into business with her mum.

Once a week, Katie sits behind the counter and chronicles the day’s comings and goings – mostly people who were actually hoping to catch her mother. The triumphs here are small but hard won: a tea crisis averted, a book title correctly identified from a cryptic clutch of clues. Not to mention the emotional rollercoaster of being named the Seventh-Best Bookshop in the Country by The Times on a day where takings came to around £16.98.

Customers appear for a browse and a chat, in search of a recommendation or the perfect gift. Others enter the shop for more unexpected reasons − to borrow a screwdriver, locate a priest or simply to ask if there’s ‘a nice place for an omelette around here’. Each day brings its own joys and frustrations, though not always in equal measure . . .

Funny, surprising and affectionate, here is a bookseller’s year in all its weirdness and wonder – a life-affirming celebration of bad weather, good books and the irreplaceable role of a local bookshop.

Publisher information
Publisher: Orion Publishing Co
ISBN: 9781399629508
Number of pages: 304
Dimensions: 216 x 140 x 28 mm
Weight: 400 g
Language: English