Receipts From the Bookshop

A Bookseller's Year

By: Katie Clapham

Many of us dream of owning a bookshop but for Katie Clapham it happened by accident, when she moved back to the seaside town she grew up in and went into business with her mum.

Once a week, Katie sits behind the counter and chronicles the day's comings and goings - mostly people who were actually hoping to catch her mother. The triumphs here are small but hard-won: a tea crisis averted, a book title correctly identified from a cryptic clutch of clues. Not to mention the emotional rollercoaster of being named the 7th Best Bookshop in the Country by The Times in a week where daily takings came to around £16.98.

Customers appear for a browse and a chat, in search of a recommendation or the perfect gift. Others enter the shop for more unexpected reasons - to borrow a screwdriver, locate a priest or simply to ask if there's 'a nice place for an omelette around here'. Each day brings its own joys and frustrations, though not always in equal measure . . .

Funny, surprising and affectionate, here is a bookseller's year in all its weirdness and wonder - a life-affirming celebration of bad weather, good books and the irreplaceable role of a local bookshop.