Friday 18 May 2012

Book 33 of 2012: Weird Things Customers Say In Bookshops

I've been really looking forward to this write-up. I've been anticipating this book since last year when my friend first announced that she was getting a book published. That friend is the wonderful Jen, champion of books on HTV (a forum I frequent).

Firstly, I have to say, it's very very cool to have a book which is written by someone I know. I have a book somewhere which was written by a family friend, my Grampy had a book published, I've met authors and have a little collection of signed books, but somehow this one is different. I've been bragging about it to all my friends at work, I just can't help myself. I know it's something that Jen's worked so hard for that I can't help but feel really proud of her.

Anyone who has worked with the public will be able to tell you that people ask some really bizarre questions and can come out with all sorts of crazy things. As Jen as discovered, bookshops seem to attract an awful lot of weird! This book is a collection of some of the really strange things people have come out with in not only the bookshops that Jen has worked in, but shops from all over the world. No matter what your background, you can't help but nod along as you find odd little similarities between your own experiences... and perhaps a few embarrassing moments when you realise that you might have been that strange customer.

The book has some fantastic illustrations in it. A selection of the quotes are illustrated with cute little pictures. In a way, I kind of wish there were more pictures; there were several quotes which I think would have made some good pictures.

It was a nice quick read. I read it on the Saturday morning before we went off to pick up Tara, it would have been ideal to read at work where I could have picked it up and put it down in my breaks. Some of the quotes were familiar to me, having heard them before, but there were loads which were new as well.

One thing I will definitely say, make sure you've got someone nearby when you're reading it; you just have to share it. Luckily Mr. Click was sitting next to me so I was able to read out some of the quotes to him as I went along. He actually comandeered it when I was finished; this is the man who until very recently only read books with Sherlock Holmes in them! As with me, he couldn't help but pick out favourite bits as he went along.

I'm just disappointed that I wasn't able to make it to any of the events that Jen was at promoting her book. But she'll have other books coming out in the future, so I'll just have to make an extra effort to get to one of those events instead.
"CUSTOMER: Do you have that book - I forget what it's called; it's about people with large, hairy feet.
BOOKSELLER: Do you mean hobbits? The Lord of the Rings?
CUSTOMER: No... erm - The Hairy Bikers."
Page 9

1 comment:

Let me know what you think. :-)