MORE WEIRD THINGS CUSTOMERS SAY IN BOOKSHOPS by JEN CAMPBELL.From "Did Harry Potter kill Hitler?" to "Can we play cricket in your bookshop?", a selection of the most ridiculous conversations from the shop floor.
Bewildering, hilarious and slightly alarming, this is a book for dedicated booksellers and booklovers everywhere.
Illustrated by the Brothers McLeod, this collection includes peculiar queries and incidents from bookshops (and libraries!) around the world, and even a section of Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops Book Signings.
..... Inner front cover.
FIRST SENTENCE(Introduction): The world of bookselling is anything but boring.
MEMORABLE MOMENT (Page 19): Customer: We're having a book burning at our religious group tonight. I need all your books on witchcraft.
Bookseller: .....
Customer: We're doing the world a favour by burning them, you know.
MY THOUGHTS: As the title suggests this is the second book in a series of books about the weird things people say in bookshops (mainly the one where the author works) and, in this case, libraries and book signings.
With more giggle-worthy moments than laugh-out-loud ones, call me a cynic but I really struggled to believe that rather than genuine questions some of these 'questions' were posed by individuals trying to come up with the most bizarre thing they could ..... in other words people trying to 'pull the leg of' (to dupe) these booksellers.
Much funnier (and probably more honest) were the comments from children - I love the thought of angels growing inside of clouds. A stark contrast with this being the parents who seemed to discourage the reading of books.
Worth a look BUT at just over 100 pages and given that it took less than an hour to read I think the recommended retail price of £8.99 is way too steep.
Disclaimer: Read and reviewed on behalf of NEWBOOKS magazine. I was merely asked for my honest opinion, no financial compensation was asked for nor given.
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18 comments:
it takes all sorts and I've heard some weird questions, so why not in bookstores.
This is a clever idea for a book! Thank you for your honest review, Petty.
Point taken Heather, its just that many of the questions felt contrived, almost as if great thought had been put into making them as silly as possible.
Hi Tracy,
I love this kind of book where you can 'dip in and out' and find the occasional gem, but that retail price cetainly doesn't warrant my interest.
Working as I do, in retail, I know that there is 'nowt so queer as folk' and people do come out with some strange requests and questions, but I am with yourself in wondering just how much these stories are embellished and manipulated, to make for popular reading.
I don't tend to read much non-fiction, so I think that I can live without this one. Hope that you had a good laugh though!
Yvonne
This is really a book for book lovers , thank you so much for such a nice review :)
This does sound cute but I agree... that price is just too much. People are strange! :D
The price sounds way too high, but it does sound like a fun book. I've worked at a library for quite a while, so we do get weird requests and funny questions.
:) Sounds funny! (If I can find it at a reduced price, that is.) I currently work in a bookshop part time, and I admit that some really weird questions are asked.
Thanks for your review! I have never heard of this one. I worked in a library once and received many odd questions. I would be curious to skim some of the questions. I always find questions from kids to be pretty entertaining. :)
I'm sure I would enjoy this but agree about the price. It's bound to turn up in a 2 for the price of 1 sale before too long, so I will wait a while before buying it!
Did Harry Potter kill Hitler? that's priceless Tracy.
Oh I don't know...you'd be surprised just how many "interesting" questions we are asked in a day. *-* No really. Just last week I had a girl walk up to me in the middle of the store and ask in all earnestness ..."Excuse me, do you have a book?". *-* Before you ask, yes, she was a fully functioning adult, no, we weren't standing outside the store, and yes, her friend even called her out on it by saying "Did you REALLY just ask that?"...to which she received a blank stare for the span of several seconds. Yep. That's one of many. *shakes head* Thanks for the share!
I bet the kids comments were really cute
I'd heard of the first book recently, so that's cool there is a second. Love these type of books but it's true that for such quick reads, it's hard to shell out the money. Nice for a laugh though!
I like books like this from time to time :)
I know what you mean about some parts sounding as if they were intentionally made to provoke laughs, Petty. There was recently an online interview with kids on their take on dating. Just didn't convince me they were actually spoken by children.
I'll pick this up when I need a few giggles (but who doesn't, eh?).
i'm sure i'd enjoy this book...but the price does sound way too high.
thanks so much for your brilliant review!
xx
a pure joy, as to be expected. :)
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