Hard-To-Categorize Autobiography

[Fishface]

The book I have in mind here is 84, Charing Cross Road. It's kind of an epistolary autobiography, consisting of the correspondence between a used bookseller in London and a customer in New York City. Two people's stories told by one person collecting the letters they wrote back and forth. And almost every word was about the books they were trying to get hold of. A lot of reviewers characterize this as a romance, but the love affair is with antiquarian books, not the happily-married man and his happily-single customer who never met in their lives.

I'm just not sure where to fit this one into my mental freezer.

[Selina]

it wouldn't be put in the 920s which is for autobiography and biographies in the library. I would catalogue that in the 000s for books about book collections or the 800s for literature.

[Selina]

I have a book on my shelf I am meaning to read about the book trade called Turning the pages a history of bookselling in New Zealand.

I have considered buying a secondhand book business but it didn't happen, if you have a bricks and mortar shop you can't run it on your own, you'd need to find at least another business partner and I don't have anyone.

[Fishface]

Selina wrote: "I have a book on my shelf I am meaning to read about the book trade called Turning the pages a history of bookselling in New Zealand.

I have considered buying a secondhand book business but it di..."

You could run it on your own if you had very, very eccentric hours. There is a tearoom in this town that is open "by appointment only." That's one way of doing it.

[Selina]

Come at 9pm.
Bedtime storytime.

[Fishface]

Careful, or you might wind up running a B&B! (Book & Bedtime)