Weird Things Customers Say in Bookstores

Cute, would make a nice gift for someone who has worked in a bookstore.Having worked in an indie/literary bookstore in the '80's, and a used/rare bookstore part-time at the same time, a lot of this rang a bell for me. But, as some of the lesser reviews here point out, at times some of the items exhibit a bit of snobbery to them.Not funny "laugh out loud" kind of thing. More like, "roll your eyes at people and smile" funny, and thank God you're so much better than them, as you feel blessed working for minuimum wage at a bookstore.My own favorite stories, a guy ranting at me that the book on ham radios was a book tha every American needed to read, and that it was out of print was part of a Communist plot, and he wanted to talk to the manager. Uhhh, we sell them sir, not publish them. His wife, who seems to have seen this all before, dragged him out of the store.In the used/rare store, most of our paperbacks half-priced. But we had a handful of '50's and '60's paperback First Editions, or hard to find, or never again reprinted titles that were priced accordingly. Some guy came to the counter complaining that a $0.15 pb we had on the shelf was priced at like $8. How dare we! He wasn't having any of it when I tried to explain to him why we had decided on that price.Quick, easy read - can be done easily in one sitting, if not 2. The stories tend to become a bit redundant after a bit - and the ending line of, "Bookseller: ........" is over used.2 out of 5 is "it Was OK".

People say the darnedest things - and sometimes in bookstores. Jen Campbell compiled a bunch of the craziest ones she's heard and started a blog - which apparently got famous due to Neil Gaiman (!!) discovering it. She was then tapped to produce a book, which she augmented with stories from other booksellers (thought fortunately, I'd say a good 75% or better are hers).I added this book to my Goodreads shelf on September 3, 2014, along with the book "I Work at a Public Library". I'm not entirely certain why I added this book - maybe there was a review that instigated it or I found it from a blog I read at the time. I'm not sure - but the point of me mentioning when I added it is that, 3 years later, it was not nearly worth the 3 year wait nor the price I spent to buy it (sorry). This is definitely a "check out of the library, spend 30 min on and have a chuckle".Although the book is divided up into multiple subjects, the types of entries are usually one of two:1) A customer who doesn't read much makes a "heinous book error" (Tequila Mockingbird!)or2) A customer is a rude a-holeAt least one entry seems to mock bookphiles. The customer comment was something along the lines of "I would love to sleep among the books" - how is that weird at all? I think I've heard that sentiment multiple times unironically on Goodreads!In general, I don't like to laugh at people who are inexperienced or just trying to make small talk but being awkward about it. Hell, I'm that awkward person, so perhaps I'll be the next laugh in her next book.As for the rude a-holes, I don't know whether to laugh or want to strangle them. Asking if you can pee in a bookstore (and doing it), ripping books to get a discount, and so on aren't really funny - they are weird, but more a "this is a vile person" than "what a weird thing - let's have a giggle!"Further, the formatting sometimes made it a challenge to determine how long an entry was. The entries had signifiers at the end to tell when the entry was over, but sometimes, when the entry went across the page, it was a challenge to determine if it was a new entry or the same one.At the end, this book wasn't horrible. I mean, I may not have loved it and may think it was not worth waiting 3 years and spending money on it, but it was amusing - a few modest chuckles. I think what did this book the worst was the hype that led me to put this on my list. I probably should have checked out the blog first, to see if it was the style I liked before buying and reading.Oh well, we all make mistakes. I'll quickly remedy this mistake by taking this off to the used bookstore to sell and get something else.

Suffice it to say, the title of this book says it all. I found it to be a very entertaining book, part of which I read on the subway today, suppressing a chuckle every now and then so as now to draw undue attention to myself from fellow riders. I'd like to cite two excerpts from the book which made me laugh:"Customer: Do you stock Nigella Lawson under 'sex' or 'cooking'?"Bookseller: It's a tough call, isn't it?""Customer (holding up a copy of Ulysses): 'Why is this book so long? Isn't it supposed to be set in a single day? How can this many pages of things happen to one person in one day? I mean, I get up, have breakfast, go to work, come home... sometimes I might go out for a drink, and that's it! And, I mean, that doesn't fill a book, does it?' "This is a book that can be easily read (and savored) in a few hours. Enjoy.

Bought it because my local library system didn't own it. Quick read & sometimes humorous but feels like an impulse purchase that didn't quite work out.

Not exactly what I expected but I did chuckle a couple of times while reading the book. It is a lighthearted read with short anecdotes from booksellers all over the world (including the author of the book). If you are looking for something fun to read in just under an hour or two (yes, it reads pretty fast) then this book is for you.

This is a fantastic collection of hilarious things people ask, say, and do in book stores. I bought the second book and gave them both to my librarian husband for his birthday. They have since been enjoyed by our daughter as well as the chair of the English Department of the local university. Great, easy read, and a perfect addition to the bathroom for "reading room" time.

This book will make you smile and frequently laugh out loud. Having booked in a book store for a brief time, I can relate to the strange things people say especially if they're not familiar with a book. Share this book with other book lovers -- they'll thank you!

It is every reader's dream to open a bookshop including me because it’s nice when you can share your dream with everyone right? Like, recommend the best book, having promotional books in the shop, entertain authors and I realise that handling of customers is the biggest part of bookshop and yes it also the hardest one.I might think again about pursuing my dream 😁

This is a slim, amusing book, with jolly illustrations to pad out the fact that it is actually, a VERY slim bookTo be honest, as many of the weird things customers say in bookshops seem to be along the lines of weird things they might say in any shop the book would have outstayed its amusing welcome had it been longer. There seems to be a preponderance of people asking the obvious bookshop if they sell completely different things - from wool and knitting needles - antiquarian bookshop which also sells old magazines, in this case, a knitting magazine, to cameras (the previous shop on the site was a camera shop), to milk, screwdrivers and lottery tickets (no clear reason at all)There are several requests for the bookshop to childmind, as they sell children's books 'so I can get my nails done' and a good few can't remember the title, the author, what it was about but the book cover was green/red etcIt is probably the ideal littlest room book, except that if someone has digestive or waterworks problems which means little room time is considerable, you might also need to get the sequel (More Weird Things) as this book is 119 pages and a lot of illustrations/cartoons within that

Having spent much of my adult life in New and second hand bookshops throughout the world can confirm amusing things are often to be heard. One of my favourite is in Seattle, a cavernous establishment that I spent hours in. Had many interesting chats with Hal, the owner. I recall on one occasion he was asked, do you sell any books that haven,r been written yet? He and I exchangeqd quizzical glances, there then followed an extremely complex and confusing conversation( more of a monologue than chat). I received an odd look when I said to the guy, I can verify all the books on Hal's shelves have been written,he left shortly after. What Hal and I surmised was that he was looking for a publisher for a book he was intending to write. Over the years Hal never saw him again.

I have to admit this; I have been one of those weird customers asking weird questions. Well not really weird. My question was at least book related. I was one of those typical “I want a book; it has a white cover and little speckles of ticker tape one it. I don’t know who it is by or what it is called but it looks good. Do you have it?”*I think we have all been that person at some point.In Jen Campbell’s wonderful Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops we get to read about all sorts of odd and random questions. It really is remarkably funny. Within a matter of pages I was chuckling away to myself, eliciting funny looks from family members as I tried to be social (for me that is sitting in a room reading rather than sitting upstairs alone reading).This is a light read that is actually a rather genius concept. Anyone who has ever worked in retail has stories like this. I once worked in a call centre and the things that the customers used to ask my friends and me were hilarious. Bravo to Jen Campbell for actually collating all of these and releasing the quirky little anecdotes. I, for one, absolutely loved this collection and will be buying the sequel More Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops.* It was A Million Little Pieces by James Frey. No one knew what the book was but I happened to come across it in a second hand furniture shop sitting by itself on a bookshelf. I believe it was fate.Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops by Jen Campbell is available now.Follow Jen Campbell (@aeroplanegirl) on Twitter.

Very funny book containing brief anecdotes from booksellers about weird requests to which they have been subject. Most are gathered from a particular bookshop in London and another one in Edinburgh, with a short selection from others elsewhere in the country/world. They range from the vacant ("I read this book decades ago, don't know the title or author but it had a green cover, do you know which one I mean?"; or "the title was "something something", can you search for it on your computer?") to the chillingly naive ("I enjoyed the Diary of Ann Frank, why did she never write a sequel?") They also include bizarre requests to buy or borrow items such as ice cubes or condoms, or queries on how to cook a chicken. My dad used to work in public libraries and he used to get a lot of similar strange and vague queries as well!

These two slim volumes by Jen Campbell are the funniest books I have read in a long time, although I have never worked in a bookshop I have worked in Customer Service and, I myself, have heard some very bizarre things in my time, so the examples in the books really resonated with me.Some of the entries are silly, some are mind-boggling, every single one is extremely funny. Illustrated humorously by the Brothers McLeod, they fit in with the premise of the book, and if you haven’t got these on your shelves already, why not?