Unlike the last time, I didn't read this book in the actual shop in which it was set. That's because the Cat and Cauldron was closed. I waited forlornly on the pavement, looking every now and again at the 15th century pub over the road. That worked.
Trevor Jones emerged, "I've got a pint in there!"
"Your shop is shut and I want to buy your book." Stare off. Large sigh. Trevor opened his shop.
Within minutes I'd emerged again clutching a hard-back edition of the second installment of 'Diary of a Witchcraft Shop'. It was signed by the authors. I relocated to the George and Pilgrim pub, where Liz Williams was waiting, to begin reading it.
Trevor didn't return. His open shop door attracted the hordes. It took him nearly an hour to get away. How he must love having me around.
Each year, a gang of us descend upon Trevor and Liz's home. We're all destined for the Glastonbury Festival, and they live conveniently down the road.
We all read these diaries to watch the eccentric and bizarre trotted out for our amusement. But sometimes those concerns trip past the point of harmless fun, into real danger.
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Comments
Isn't it just?! Can you see now why I was laughing so much that day in the orchard? :)
Hey, great book. Just started reading it and it is hilarious!
Come to the next Glastonbury Festival with me and you could do that very same thing. ;)
Only you could end up reading a book in the house of the person who wrote it!
Yes! I always have a laugh with Katy. We had a longer conversation too, but it made the picture too small to read.
I love @TidBox's response to being mentioned!
I missed all of that, but probably because I'm a Pagan myself so it wasn't news. It's interesting how these books are read by someone for whom even the context is brand new. I'm glad that it all comes across well!
As a practicing Pagan, I suppose that my biggest difference would be that I'd discern much earlier where behaviour was way out of whack. Whereas you'd have to work out if something is standard Paganism.
I do recommend getting the second diary too. You heard how I was laughing over it! It's going to be interesting to see where they go now. They're already up to 2012, so the next diary will surely be just one year's worth. Mind you, you could fill a book with a WEEK in that place!
I didn't get a copy of this one though, I got the first one. I'd read your review of it, however long ago that was, it seems like a while, and then I'd been inspired after my brief experiences in the town and really wanted to see what was in the book. If one brief afternoon in a pub in Glastonbury could entertain me as much as it did, I could only imagine how and why the book would be as funny as you'd said it was. At that point, I was pretty curious to see what owning a witchcraft shop in the area was like. I was surprised to find the book really took me into their lives, more than I thought it would. But then, you know, it is a diary. Parts really were as amusing as your review had said it would be, as well as a lot of other things.
I mentioned it to you the other day, but I actually learned a lot about Druid and other pagan traditions and about the religions themselves (and a lot of history related to the religions) throughout the entire book. I mean, it is a diary about owning a witchcraft shop, so there's no surprise that it was inundated with pagan...everything. I really don't think there was a page where I didn't learn something new, about pagan religions specifically. And then there are bits in there that I feel really challenged traditional thinking, which maybe didn't impact you, as you're already Wiccan, but which really stood out to me. I don't know if Trevor and Liz included it on purpose, or if those were just the messages that came across as they conveyed their opinions on life. Maybe it stood out to me, because that's what I was meant to gain.
I feel like bits of knowledge, such as on pagan religions, that I went in with helped me follow parts of the stories as well, and I wonder if I'd gone in with far more knowledge, like from your perspective, or even far less, if I'd have gotten a totally different series of stories. Because I really think I would have, which I think makes the book special, because I know I can probably go back and re-read it at some point in the future, to remember my time in Glastonbury, as well as just to enjoy the book, and I'm almost certain I'll get a different experience out of the book. (Part of me feels like I got way too much out of what might be just a simple book anyways, but I don't care.)
For all of those reasons, I enjoyed that book immensely, and have every intention of reading the second. :)