At the age of eighteen, Sean Bithell first saw the quirky bookshop in the Scottish seaside town of Wigtown. “This bookstore won’t last another year,” he said absentmindedly to a friend. Thirteen years later, it’s still there, and Sean is its owner. He lives and works in the bookshop, whose creaking shelves hold everything from a sixteenth-century Bible to a first edition of Agatha Christie. A book lover’s paradise? Well, almost… In this brutally honest and wryly funny diary, Sean records his daily life in and around the bookshop, revealing the highs and lows of the book trade, what it’s like to live as a bookseller in the digital age, and how to deal with eccentric customers, capricious staff, and a frequently empty cash register. He also takes you on buying trips to old estates and auction houses, offering you the thrill of unexpected finds. “Diary of a Bookseller” is an intimate story about a man who lives for, with, and among books. Diary of a Bookseller is warm (unlike Sean's freezing cold bookshop) and funny, and deserves to be a bestseller, a term which bothers him so much. Mail on Sunday: "Absolutely scathing. Bethel has a keen eye for the eccentricities of ordinary people... I urge you to buy this book and please, even at the risk of being insulted or complained about, buy it from a flesh-and-blood bookseller." Sunday Express