I like book shops, I like the fact that you can stand around in them all day doing nothing but sipping coffee and idly flicking through books. It is even better when you work in the shop, and are getting paid to do nothing.

Actually, I doubt whether I was really being paid to do nothing. Maybe that was just my interpretation of the job. People that work in bookshops have loads to do. They have to raise their eyebrows when you ask for something that is not part of some rapidly changing list of acceptable books to ask for in bookshops, they get to not answer the telephone when you call them up, and they get to tell you, “no, but we can order it for you” even if you are just asking whether they have a toilet on site….

 Now they have another task as well, well at least the ones in Waterstone’s do.

As part of the web site’s relaunch - following its split off from Amazon - punters can ask questions of the shop floor experts. The chap I spoke to from Waterstone’s about the relaunch expected the questions to be along the lines of “I want to buy a book for a fifteen year old boy, who likes Sci-fi, can you recommend me one?”. But that’s too easy. So I came up with a couple of my own:

I read a Dan Brown book and think it is better than the bible. Are any other books better than the bible?

Is it possible to buy signed copies of books? If so, can I buy a copy of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, signed by Ian McEwan.

 If I buy a book and come away from it feeling disappointed and a little grubby, can I have my money back?

Waterstone’s gives itself 48 hours to respond. So, the clock is ticking.