One day last week, a woman came into my bookstore and handed me a copy of Shuggie Bain. I recognized her. A few days before, she was in the store with her daughter and bought the award-winning book about poverty in mid-century Scotland. “I enjoyed this, thank you” she said. “You can sell it used.” She was out the door before I could say anything, but I yelled “Thank you!” as she headed north. Her unceremonious delivery lead me to wonder whether maybe she didn’t like the book. Or maybe she was just in a hurry. In any case, she was kind enough to go out of her way to share an expensive book with another reader.
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