Musings

It’s cold. I mean really cold. Three, sometimes, four layers cold.  It was one of the things that was brought to my attention when I had my interview for the post of bookseller way back in June last year. “It gets warm in the summer and pretty cold in the winter.” “I mean how cold can cold be”, I thought. Turns out pretty cold. I probably should stop going on about the temperature, especially as I can imagine Jo, the manager here at Red Lion, reading over the first draft of this new column and saying it’s not exactly encouraging people to […]

Somebody today, asked what a typical day at the book shop looked like and we realised there is no typical day. We start off with grand plans to ‘tidy up’, which generally means, ‘make more mess’. We always hoover and water the plants and then we usually have a grand plan.  The grand plan today was to gather all the jigsaw puzzles up and display them in the window but then our daily delivery of books arrived.  Each book has to be treated with consideration.  Has it arrived in good condition? Does it need pricing?  Is it ready to be goods […]

As booksellers who love real books printed on paper the advent of e-books has not been a welcome development. And the Kindle in particular as it binds users into a certain dominant online retailer. Here’s a couple of anti-Kindle limericks which I hope may cause a smile.   A spy novel lover called Jane Found her Kindle it drove her insane For the battery failed as the spy was unveiled. Now she’s back reading real books again!   A lass of a ‘certain age’ Stamped on her Kindle in rage. For it wouldn’t display ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ Now she’s back […]

A paper book is a wondrous thing No batteries are needed You can shelve it for a hundred years Then take it down and read it.   You can read it in the bath tub You can read it on the train You can read it when the sun is bright You can read it in the rain.   It needs no wires or charging No cables and no socket It’s soft and flexible enough To stuff it in your pocket!   You can scribble in the margins From the first page to the end. You can write a message in […]