An Unexpected Trip and Two Books

Yesterday I was told I have to attend a meeting at Nagpur in place of someone who was on leave. It was rather sudden but somehow I got confirmed train tickets. I was glad I was going to Nagpur because a very close friend lives there. It had been quite a long time since I had seen him and I was eager to meet him. I would be returning on Thursday and hence the next post would be on Thursday. But today, I found two good books quite unexpectedly.

I had been to Abids in the afternoon shopping for woollens because I was told it was quite cold in Nagpur. I found that the book sellers had set up their books because today was the Republic Day, a mandatory holiday for shops. Most of the shops were closed today and the Abids booksellers took advantage of the holiday. Anyway, I found Jacquelyn Mitchard's 'The Rest of Us.' It is a collection of her essays and has a subtitle, Despatches from the Mother Ship. It was a hard cover edition and almost new. I picked it up because I love to read personal essays. I got this book for thirty rupees.

The second book I found today was one of the best finds of the year so far. It was a book by two revered book collectors. The book was 'Bookends: Two Women, One Enduring Friendship' by Leona Rostenberg and Madeleine Stern. These two are the authors of "Old Books, Rare Friends", a book that is quite a bestseller the blurb says. I was glad to find this joint memoir and this too I got for only thirty rupees which is quite a bargain considering it is a hardcover edition and is in excellent condition.

I felt glad finding these two books today. I will write more about them after the Nagpur trip.