Buzbee, Lewis:  The Yellow Lighted Bookshop

Buzbee talks about his life with books as a book seller in independent bookstores, mainly in the Bay Area of Northern California, as a book rep for publishers and as one who lusts after books and unique bookstores.  Along the way he sprinkles in various tidbits of the history of books and book selling from ancient times to the 21^st century both in Eastern and Western cultures.  His book is charming and fun, although I didn’t find is as compelling or interesting as the best Nicholas Basbanes or Alberto Manguel books.  However as I mentioned in my journal he taught me something about myself, that I am a “book snoop”.

This is a book I enjoyed but I’m not sorry I borrowed it rather than bought it.  He calls it a memoir/history but it often reads more like listening to a person talk informally about his love for books and bookstores.  Some of his topics would have been more interesting and more memorable if he had taken the time to dig a little deeper and write an Anne Fadiman type personal essay developing his topic around a theme.  However, it was a great book to relax with just before bedtime-it was very conducive to going to sleep.  (That is not meant as a criticism, rather just an observation.)