Shaun Bythell’s “Confessions of a Bookseller” is a perfect example that illustrates how the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Essentially, this book comprises his diary entries for each single day of a particular year.

Shaun runs a secondhand bookstore in Scotland. Prior to picking up the book, I think I was expecting heartwarming encounters with his customers and fascinating intellectual discussions in which they derived universal insights from the books they read. Nothing of that sort happened to him. If anything, his life seemed rather plain as he wrote about ever-existing problems with Amazon and Monsoon, as well as paying bereaved families a visit to value their deceased relatives’ books. Quite formulaic. Almost as tragic as my parenting life.

Still, I persisted in reading about his life. One reason was that his entries were short and sweet, which were suitable for light-hearted reading during lunch whenever I wanted to decompress from a tiring class. More importantly, I grew to appreciate and look forward to his sense of humour. He has a way of laying bare the illogicalities and absurdities in his customers’ thoughts and actions without really suggesting that they are ludicrous or ridiculous. I don’t think he meant to be sarcastic, either. He seems to delight in mocking fun at his customers but knows to draw the line and not come across as mean. I think I would love to have a round of drinks with him in real life. I dig in-your-face reactions like his.

In any case, he has inspired me to write more about my formulaic and mundane life. Hence, the flurry of posts on my social media. He has reminded me about the compounding effort of consistency. I’m not looking to compile my entries and publish a book, but I think diligent jotting down of my happenings can only be an asset should opportunities pop out in the future. Thanks @bookshopwigtown for the jolt of realism.