Got Books? Conversations with Booksellers
Arts:Books
This is the first episode of Got Books?, a podcast for those who love getting lost in (and among) books. For those who appreciate the comfort of a bookshop, the smell of a new book and the story of an old one. It's a podcast with those making this possible: the booksellers. We will be interviewing bookshop owners all around the world and for our very episode we travelled to Scotland.
In the south-west parts of Scotland lies Wigtown, a small town where 1,000 people live and 10,000 visit every year. Wigtown is Scotland’s National Booktown, a title won in 1999 that has not only turned it into a tourist attraction, but gave a complete makeover to the local economy. Down Main Street, in a millennium-old Georgian building, behind a forest green door guarded by two spiralling book columns you will find The Bookshop, Scotland’s largest second-hand book shop. Nine rooms, a mile of shelving, 100,000 books. Straight out of a fairy tale, the Bookshop has hidden nooks and crannies, a staircase door, a creaky old floor showing off scars from when it used to be a grocery store back in the 50’s and of course, a resident cat.
Much of its charm has been crafted or preserved by its current owner and our guest today, Shaun Bythell. Shaun has been the owner of The Bookshop since 2001 and has since published three delectable books of wry observations from his perspective as a bookseller, which have only increased the notoriety of his bookshop: The Diary of a Bookseller, Confessions of a Bookseller and Seven Kinds of People You Find in a Bookshop. We couldn’t have wished for a more fitting first guest to our podcast. Without further ado, Shaun Bythell.
Find us on social media @gotbookspodcast
Books recommended by Shaun
A Confederacy of Dunces, by John Kennedy Toole
The Catcher in the Rye, by J. D. Salinger
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/gotbooks/messageS3 Ep10 Alex Holder, Salted Books (Lisbon, Portugal)
S3 Mini Episode: Opening a Bookshop!
S3 Ep9 Edgars Lielausis, Robert's Books (Riga, Latvia)
S3 Mini Episode: Future Booksellers Club and Fun Christmas Gifts
S3 Ep8 Danny Caine, The Raven Book Store (Lawrence, Kansas, United States)
S3 Ep7 Hailey Brock, The Nature of Reading (Madison, New Jersey, United States)
S3 Mini Episode: All About Bookshops - Niche Bookshops Everywhere
S3 Ep6 Neil Paul & Brid Conroy, Tertulia (Westport, Ireland)
S3 Ep5 Federico Lang, Libreria Luces (Malaga, Spain)
S3 Ep4 Clayton Comber, Bouquiniste (Kiama, Australia)
S3 Ep3 Rakesh Singh, Harmony (Varanasi, India)
S3 Ep2 Gesine Tosin, About (Berlin, Germany)
S3 Ep1: Jorge F. Hernandez & Pablo Cerezo, Pergamo (Madrid, Spain)
S2 Ep 9: Christmas Special w. Pil Cappelen Smith, Cappelens Forslag (Oslo, Norway)
S2 Ep 8: Christmas Special w. Julia König & David Bloomfield, Golden Hare (Edinburgh, Scotland)
S2 Ep 7: Christmas Special w. Shaun Bythell, The Bookshop (Wigtown, Scotland)
S2 Ep 6: Christmas Special w. Stephen Fowler, Monkey's Paw (Toronto, Canada)
S2 Ep 5: Christmas Special w. Charlotte Delattre, Desperate Literature (Madrid, Spain)
Mini-Episode 5: News in Books & Book Review w. Emily Feetham (Girl in the Walls by A. J. Gnuse)
S2 Ep 4: Carmen Oliart, Sabina Editorial (Madrid, Spain)
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