Black Books centres around the foul tempered and wildly eccentric bookshop owner Bernard Black. Bernard’s devotion to the twin pleasures of drunkenness and wilful antagonism deepens and enriches both his life and that of Manny, his assistant. Bearded, sweet and good, Manny is everything that Bernard isn’t and is punished by Bernard relentlessly just for the crime of existing. They depend on each other for meaning as Fran, their oldest friend, depends on them for distraction.
Black Books is a haven of books, wine and conversation, the only threat to the group’s peace and prosperity is their own limitless stupidity.
Drained from her life in the city, a young cellist moves to a quiet small town, where she encounters an old friend who helps her heal and remake herself.
Biblia Second-hand Bookstore has been quietly open for business in some corner of Kamakura. Its owner is Shinokawa Shioriko, a young, pretty but introverted girl who is extremely shy around strangers and cannot interact well with people she meets for the first time. However, when it comes to knowledge of old books, no one can to compare to her. Talking about books makes Shioriko forget her shyness. In fact, she becomes eloquent and passionate. She unravels the mysteries and secrets associated with many old books with her vast knowledge and keen eye.
Honda is a skeleton, but more importantly, he is a bookseller. And he'll tell you from firsthand experience that the job of a bookstore employee is more challenging than it may seem to the average customer.
Alongside his equally eccentric coworkers, Honda constantly deals with the stressful requirements of the bookselling industry. From the drama of receiving new titles without their bonus material to the struggle of providing quality service to customers who speak a different language, the work of a skeleton bookseller never ends.
Nevertheless, despite the hardships he faces, Honda thoroughly enjoys his job and strives to bring the best book selections and service to his customers.
After Henry is a British sitcom that aired on ITV from 1988 to 1992. Starring Prunella Scales and Joan Sanderson, it had started on BBC Radio 4 in 1985, finishing in 1989. It was written by Simon Brett. After Henry was made for the ITV network by Thames Television.
The BBC was reluctant to produce After Henry for television, so in 1988 after the third radio series Thames Television did so. The show was surprisingly popular, attracting over 14 million viewers. A second television series was shown during the same months as the fourth radio series with, in many cases, both radio and television episodes being broadcast on the same nights. The fourth television series was broadcast from July 1992, after the death of Joan Sanderson, who had died on 24 May.