(Phone rings)
Bookseller: Hello?
Customer: Hi. I was wondering if you could help me. I’m looking for a book for my niece. She’s six and I’ve no idea what to buy her.
Bookseller: Sure. What kinds of things is she into?
Customer: I don’t really know. I don’t see her very often—my sister lives abroad.
Bookseller: Ok, what’s her name?
Customer: Sophie.
Bookseller: Ah, well, have you considered the Dick King Smith Sophie series? There’s even a book called Sophie’s Six.
Customer: Ok, sure, that sounds like a good idea.
Bookseller: Do you want me to double check that we have those in stock? I’m pretty sure we do.
Customer: No, it’s ok. I’m just going to order them online.
Bookseller: But… we just gave you the recommendation.
Customer: I know, and I appreciate it. It’s such a pain Amazon doesn’t have a function for that. But I know I can rely on you guys for advice.
Bookseller: …
Customer: I’m from out of town. Can I recharge my Kindle here?
Tom Campbell
The Regulator Bookshop, Durham, NC
Customer: Do you sell any books with instructions for how to use my Kindle?
Carolyn Hutton
A Great Good Place for Books, Oakland, CA
Customer (while walking up to the counter): Wow! I didn’t realize books were still so popular!
Bookseller: …
Anonymous
Customer: I just don’t like my Kindle. I like real books. They are like cozy blankets to me.
Mary Jane Reed
G. J. Ford Bookshop, St. Simons, GA
Customer: Hello, I’d like a copy of The Water Babies, with nice illustrations. But I don’t want to pay a lot of money for it, so could you show me what editions you have so I can look at them, and then I can go and find one online?
Bookseller: Can I help you find something?
Customer: No, I have an e-reader. I’m just here to get ideas and see what’s new.
Anonymous
Customer: So where do all these books come from? Do you get them from Amazon?
Leslie Hawkins
Spellbound Children’s Bookshop, Asheville, NC
Customer (inclining her head): How are you guys doing?
Bookseller: Oh, we’re clinging on.
Customer: Oh you poor dears, it’s this Kindle!
Bookseller: Well, really, it’s the supermarkets making people think that books aren’t worth paying money for.
Customer: I hadn’t thought of it like that. It is terrible, isn’t it?
(five minutes later)
Customer: How much is this book?
Bookseller: That’s $10.
Customer: Could I have it for $5?
Customer: Do you guys sell used e-books?
Bookseller (laughing): No…
Customer (angrily): Why not?
Kat Bailey
Bookshop Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA
Customer: Can I return an e-book I bought from another bookstore to you?
Kate Weiss-Duncan
Penguin Bookshop, Sewickley, PA
Customer: Hi.
Bookseller: Hi there, how can I help?
Customer: Could you please explain Kindle to me.
Bookseller: Sure. It’s an e-reader, which means you download books and read them on a small hand-held computer.
Customer: Oh, ok, I see. So … this Kindle. Are the books on that paperback or hardback?