S1 Ep. 1: Shaun Bythell, The Bookshop (Wigtown, Scotland)

This is the first episode of Got Books?, a podcast for those who love getting lost in (and among) books. For those who appreciate the comfort of a bookshop, the smell of a new book and the story of an old one. It's a podcast with those making this possible: the booksellers. We will be interviewing bookshop owners all around the world and for our very episode we travelled to Scotland.  In the south-west parts of Scotland lies Wigtown, a small town where 1,000 people live and 10,000 visit every year. Wigtown is Scotland’s National Booktown, a title won in 1999 that has not only turned it into a tourist attraction, but gave a complete makeover to the local economy. Down Main Street, in a millennium-old Georgian building, behind a forest green door guarded by two spiralling book columns you will find The Bookshop, Scotland’s largest second-hand book shop. Nine rooms, a mile of shelving, 100,000 books. Straight out of a fairy tale, the Bookshop has hidden nooks and crannies, a staircase door, a creaky old floor showing off scars from when it used to be a grocery store back in the 50’s and of course, a resident cat. Much of its charm has been crafted or preserved by its current owner and our guest today, Shaun Bythell. Shaun has been the owner of The Bookshop since 2001 and has since published three delectable books of wry observations from his perspective as a bookseller, which have only increased the notoriety of his bookshop: The Diary of a Bookseller, Confessions of a Bookseller and Seven Kinds of People You Find in a Bookshop. We couldn’t have wished for a more fitting first guest to our podcast. Without further ado, Shaun Bythell. Find us on social media @gotbookspodcast Books recommended by Shaun A Confederacy of Dunces, by John Kennedy Toole The Catcher in the Rye, by J. D. Salinger