Book of the Month

Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont

Elizabeth Taylor

Book of the Month (which seems to happen whenever I can be bothered to get round to it, rather than every month) has been chosen by Nicki. Here are her rambling and incoherent thoughts on it.

Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont by Elizabeth Taylor is an absolute joy, following Mrs Palfrey’s arrival at the hotel for elderly residents in London after the death of her husband. She spends her days with people who she assumes are simply waiting to die. Luda, an impoverished, aspiring writer, comes into her life by accident and their unlikely friendship becomes a central part of her story, which shows the loneliness of advancing years and the unbridled pleasure of unexpected encounters. The book was shortlisted for the 1971 Booker Prize and has been described as one of Elizabeth Taylor’s funniest and saddest works.

The Diary of a Bookseller

A unique chance to join Shaun Bythell, the owner of The Bookshop, to see behind the scenes of the world that is bookselling. Through his honest and wryly hilarious diaries, we get a very different view of bookselling: one beset with malfunctioning heating, eccentric customers, bad-mannered, bin-foraging employees and a perennially empty till.

Shaun takes us with him on buying trips to old estates and auction houses, recommends books (both lost classics and new discoveries), introduces us to the thrill of the unexpected find, and evokes the charms and horrors of small town life.

International bestseller, The Diary of a Bookseller, has now been translated into twenty-eight languages.

Seven Kinds of People You Find in Bookshops

In twenty years behind the till in The Bookshop, Wigtown, Shaun Bythell has met pretty much every kind of customer there is – from the charming, erudite and deep-pocketed to the eccentric, flatulent and possibly larcenous.

In Seven Kinds of People You Find in Bookshops he distils the essence of his experience into a warm, witty and quirky taxonomy of the book-loving public. So, step inside to meet the crafty Antiquarian, the shy and retiring Erotica Browser and gormless yet strangely likeable shop assistant Student Hugo – along with much loved booksellers favourites like the passionate Sci-Fi Fan, the voracious Railway Collector and the ever-elusive Perfect Customer.