More Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops

Judul: More Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops

Penulis: Jen Campbell

Ilustrasi: The Brothers McLeod 2013

Desain: Basement Press, Glaisdale

Diterbitkan oleh: Constable

ISBN-13: 978-1-47210-741-1

e-book

Genre: Humor, Funny, Non-fiction, Comedy, Contemporary

Customer (holding up a book): What’s this? The Secret Garden? Well, it’s not so secret now, is it, since they bloody well wrote a book about it!

Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops was a Sunday Times bestseller, and could be found displayed on bookshop counters up and down the country. The response to the book from booksellers all over the world has been one of heartfelt agreement: it would appear that customers are saying bizarre things all over the place - from asking for books with photographs of Jesus in them, to hunting for the best horse owner’s manual that has a detailed chapter on unicorns.

Customer: I had such a crush on Captain Hook when I was younger. Do you think this means I have unresolved issues?

More Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops has yet more tales from the antiquarian bookshop where Jen Campbell works, and includes a selection of ‘Weird Things...’ sent in from other booksellers across the world. The book is illustrated by the BAFTA winning Brothers McLeod. (dari Goodreads)

ALERT: 

REVIEW (ATAU BUKAN REVIEW?) 

INI ISINYA CUMA SPOILER 

*maaf*

Halo, Kakak Ilman dan Adik Zaidan...

Sekarang hari ke-15 bulan Ramadhan. Udah separuh bulan Ramadhan. Duh, tadarus Bunda tersendat begini...

Oh, ya... Akhirnya, Bunda dapet juga sekuel dari buku Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops. Buku pertama, dalam format e-book yang Bunda dapet, meski jarak font, dll-nya bikin jereng, cukup sukses bikin Bunda ngekek-ngekek. Format ebook di buku kedua yang Bunda dapat, cukup beradab, lah... Yang jelas, bacanya ga pake perjuangan, selain kudu bisa bahasa Inggris. hihihi....

Buku ini terbagi atas tiga bagian. Eh, empat. Bagian pertama Introduction. Bagian kedua, tentang percakapan yang terjadi di Ripping Yarns Bookshop. Bagian ketiga, percakapan "weird" yang terjadi di bookshops lain. Dan bagian keempat, terakhir, adalah peristiwa celoteh orang-orang yang dateng saat acara Book Signings buku ini.

Menurut pendapat Bunda:

Kalo yang baca buku ini nggak pernah baca buku, nggak doyan Harry Potter atau nggak kenal dengan dunia imajinasi, maka buku ini adalah bacaan yang tidak mudah dipahami, tidak mudah dicerna. Jadi, untuk baca buku ini, haruslah punya wawasan cukup untuk bisa ngerti. Kenapa kesannya kayak baca buku yang satu itu, ya? X))

Sebab, buku ini emang bercerita tentang kelakuan aneh-aneh di sudut pandang bookseller. Jadi, wajar, kalo ada yang saking pengen merasa keren lalu baca buku ini, tapi dia nggak ngerti apa-apa, nggak tau di mana letak lucunya, bisa jadi, dia nggak pernah baca buku sebelumnya :D

Nah, apa yang bikin ngakak? Banyak. Sengaja Bunda ga pake tutup buka buat lihat spoilernya. Sebab, di atas udah dikasih tau bahwa review ini full of spoiler :D Atau sebenarnya ini bukan review? Reviewnya udah di atas. Cukup dua paragraf aja. Sisanya... Bunda suguhkan spoiler aja. Semoga berkenan :D

Di halaman pertama aja, udah nemu percakapan yang bikin pengen nejeh-nejeh customer :))

BOOKSELLER: Hi. Can I help you find anything?

CUSTOMER: Yes, Ths is your history section, right?

BOOKSELLER: Yep.

CUSTOMER: I can see you've got books on World War I and World War II.

BOOKSELLER:  Yes, we do.

CUSTOMER: But I can't find any books on World War III. Where are those?

CHILD: Mummy, who was Hitler?

MOTHER: Hitler?

CHILD: Yeah. Who was he?

MOTHER: Erm, he was a very bad man from a long time ago.

CHILD: Oh. How bad?

MOTHER: He was like... he was like Voldemort.

CHILD: Oh! That's really, really bad.

MOTHER: Yes.

CHILD: (Pause) So, did Harry Potter kill Hitler, too?

CUSTOMER (picking up a copy of Little Women): Is this a book about really short people?

LITTLE GIRL (pointing at Dr. Seuss books): I made a hat for my cat, but he won't wear it. That book is full of lies.

CUSTOMER: I don’t like biographies. The main character pretty much always dies in the end. It’s so predictable!

WOMAN (holding a copy of a Weight Watchers book in one hand, and The Hunger Games in the other): Which of these dieting books would you recommend most?

CUSTOMER: I really don’t like the planet today – can you recommend a book set far, far away?

CUSTOMER: Are you prepared? 

BOOKSELLER: ... For what? 

CUSTOMER: For the zombie apocalypse.

CUSTOMER: Do you believe in past lives?
BOOKSELLER: Erm, well, I ...
CUSTOMER: I do. I absolutely do. I feel very at one with everything. I’m pretty sure this is my seventh time on earth.
BOOKSELLER: I see.
CUSTOMER (looking pleased with herself): And I’m almost certain that in a past life I was Sherlock Holmes.
BOOKSELLER: ... You know, Sherlock Holmes is a fictional character.
CUSTOMER (outraged): ... Are you trying to tell me that I don’t exist?
BOOKSELLER: ...

YOUNG GIRL (pointing to a cupboard under one of the bookshelves): Can you get to Narnia through there?
BOOKSELLER: Unfortunately, I don’t think you can.
YOUNG GIRL: Oh. Our wardrobe at home doesn’t work for getting to Narnia, either.
BOOKSELLER: No? 

YOUNG GIRL: No. Dad says it’s because Mum bought it at IKEA

CUSTOMER: Where are your books on war?
BOOKSELLER: They’ll be in with history. Our history section is split up into British History, European History, American History and World History. Which war are you looking for, specifically? 
CUSTOMER: I want a history of the ongoing war between werewolves and vampires.
BOOKSELLER: …
CUSTOMER: Where would I find that?

Terus, ada juga yang paling epic dari semuanya...

YOUNG BOY: You should put a basement in your bookshop.
BOOKSELLER: You think so?
YOUNG BOY: Yeah. And then you could keep a dragon in it, and he could look after the books for you when you're not here.
BOOKSELLER: That's pretty cool idea. Dragons breathe fire, though. Do you think he might accidentally burn the books?
YOUNG BOY: He might, but you could get one who'd passed a test in bookshop-guarding. Then, you'd be OK
BOOKSELLER: You know, I think you're on to something here.

---

Dan, kayaknya karena pas ditulis Fifty Shades of Grey - E.L James lagi marak, jadi sebagian besar isi percakapan mengenai buku itu. Di antaranya:

CUSTOMER: I'm looking for this picture book for my daughter. I read about it in a review somewhere, I think it's by someone called E. L. James.

BOOKSELLER: Erm, I don't think it was by that person; that's who wrote Fifty Shades of Grey.

CUSTOMER (going bright red and clutching her handbag, as though hiding something inside it): Oh! I don't know how that name cropped into my head, then, I've certainly never read any of those books! Never!

---

Terus ada yang curhat, dia ga mampu olahraga di sports club, minta ijin buat olahraga angkat beban pake buku-buku tebal yang ada di toko buku. Hadooooh! X))

Nah, ini pengalaman Jen Campbell pas acara book signings:

WOMAN: So. Are you the new J. K. Rowling then? You don't look like her. You've got different hair.

WOMAN (walks up to me, holding up a copy of Fifty Shades of Grey): Will you sign this for me?

ME: ... I didn't write that book

WOMAN: But the sign here says that you're signing books today.

ME: Yes... I'm signing the book that I wrote (indicates Weird Things...)

WOMAN: Just that one?

ME: ... Yes

WOMAN: Not any of others?

ME: ... No.

WOMAN: Oh, well, that's very odd. (She wanders off, looking confused)

Nah... masih penasaran? Silakan dibaca bukunya. Syaratnya tetep satu: HARUS NGERTI BUKU biar tahu letak lucunya di mana :D

Oya, ini Bunda masukkan linky untuk yang mau posting review Books In English RC. Maaf, Bunda belum sempat blogwalk. Tapi kan kalo ada linky, Bunda bisa jalan-jalan jadinya nanti... :)