Here’s a look at a year in the life of a small, used book store in the tiny, out of the way town of Wigtown, Scotland: The Diary of a Bookseller, by Shaun Bythell. Entries include customers (good and bad, regular and tourist) and the comments they make (after one too many remarks of how much cheaper a book is on Kindle, the author bought a used Kindle, shot it, and framed the remains). He has an eccentric staff, you might wonder why he keeps them on, and yet, they’ve been there for years. The internet provider fails on a regular basis causing them to get poor marks for response time. How and why he chooses the books he buys is here, too. My favorite was the elderly woman who brings in a book of photography … pictures of a rather risque nature … Shaun thinks he has someone who is interested so he buys the book and as the woman is leaving, she taps the cover of the book (showing a picture of scantily clad young women) and says “see how long it takes to figure out which one is me” and walks out! A nice read.

A recent show about the great Chicago Fire sent me looking for a book. Did you know there were several other fires in that part of the country at the same time? Was there a ‘weather’ reason? (And not a cow?) In looking for more information I found The Great Chicago Fire, by John Boda and Ray Johnson. It is part of the Images of America series I like so much which means it’s full of wonderful photographs of Chicago before and after.

Reading Hermit With Dog