A Bull in a China Shop: How a Clumsy Person Buys Books

It’s been a while since I last visited a bookshop. This afternoon, I decided it was time to this favourite place in the world. Turns out, I wish I hadn’t done so. Want to know why? Read on!

A couple of weeks ago, I received a book token as a thank-you for curating my bookshelf at the library. Somehow, I didn’t quite get around to going to a bookshop and buying new books (if my boyfriend would finally decide to read one of my posts, he would by now jump up and down happily, for he thinks I have far too many books already and every day I spend not buying any books is a very good day indeed). Today, however, was the day.

I went into this lovely local bookshop which sells books that aren’t quite mainstream; whenever I go there, I find something I didn’t know yet but want to read straightaway. I picked up a couple of books, read their blurbs, and finally settled on Caledonian Road by Andrew O’Fagan because a friend of mine told me she loved it. So far, so good. But then disaster struck: I saw a book that was displaced quite prominently on the top of a shelf, and I decided to reach for it.

Please bear in mind that I’m a clumsy person. So where others would simply reach for a book, pick it up, read what it’s about and place it back on its shelf again, I never even got around to picking it up. Instead, I knocked it over, which caused a domino effect taking at least five books with them. To make matters worse, when I tried to replace it on its shelf, I knocked over more books, causing this time an avalanche of books and a sound that broke my heart. I stood rooted to the floor, and two random customers as well as the bookseller decided it would be better if I didn’t touch these books again.

Thankfully, this kind bookseller told me that I wasn’t the first one who knocked over these books so spectacularly. In fact, when I arrived at checkout to pay for the two books I had decided to buy because just the one would not make up for being so stupid, she confided in me that she had done it, too, and several times at that. Now I didn’t feel so bad anymore.

This post is dedicated to Walter’s Bookshop in Groningen, because they have such an amazing selection of books and such kind personnel who don’t get angry when customers make a terrible mess of their shop.

Have you ever accidentally knocked over a bookshelf? What did you do? What is your favourite bookshop? What is the longest you’ve gone without buying any books? Do you have any book recommendations? Please let me know in the comments! Also, don’t forget to follow me for more book-related posts!