kev67
12-01-2013, 11:59 AM
When I used to go into Waterstones (biggest bookshop chain in the UK), I used to quite enjoy reading the display shelves of books recommended by the staff. You would get a bookshelf titled, "Louises's Choices" or "Richard's Choices". I don't know whether these people were just ordinary members of staff, or people from the marketing department, but they made it appear they were choices from ordinary members of staff. This was plausible because I suspect quite a high proportion are students or graduates with English or humanities degrees. The way I remember it, there were usually about four bookcases. On the first shelf there would be classic literature: Lolita, The Handmaid's Tale, that sort of thing. On the next shelf there would be genre fiction. Richard would probably have a selection of science fiction books, because that's what he's into. Louise would probably include some superior romantic fiction, Rebecca, Cold Comfort Farm, etc. I apologise for the gross gender stereotyping (no, I don't). The next shelf might have important books of non-fiction, such as The Blind Watchmaker or Thus Spake Zarathrustra, or maybe some Bill Bryson book. I cannot remember what went on the other shelf, but I remember graphic novels used be included sometimes. Maybe this was the shelf where books that did not fit into other categories went. Can anyone remember? It's a shame Waterstones have stopped soing this.