FRIDAY DOUBLE POST/POST-2: THE SUNDAY HAUL

2013 looks like it is going to be the year when I have brought home the maximum number of books from Abids, second hand bookstores, book sales and other places. At last count after the visit to the Book fair I had bought a total of 175 books. In December alone, so far, I have bought about twenty books. Even after a good haul on the day before at the book fair I wanted to go to Abids. I cannot miss going to Abids on Sunday mornings for anything in the world.

‘A Stone for Danny Fisher’ by Harold Robbins is his only title that I haven’t read. It is a bit difficult to find a good copy of this book and a couple of years back I had found a good copy for a friend who wanted it. Someone told me it is one of the best books by Robbins so when I saw another good copy at Abids last Sunday I picked it up. I also got it quite cheap since I had to pay only thirty rupees for it. But though I am picking up books like I have all the time in the world to read them I do not know when I will read this book. I sometimes feel that I am stocking up books for retirement.

One of the joys of book hunting is picking up books by writers you haven’t heard about before and discovering them that not only they are good the whole world knows about them. On Sunday at a seller near the GPO I came across ‘Tumbleweed’ by Janwillem van der Wetering. I picked it up on a hunch and later after I read reviews I discovered that Wetering was one damn interesting writer. It felt nice to have found a good book and got it quite cheap. I plan to read the book before the end of the year since I plan to take a couple of days off. All my leaves are unused and I plan to use a couple of them to read and maybe, write.

Since the past one week I am on Legislature duty which meant I had to attend the Legislative Council on the days it meets. On Tuesday since the House was adjourned for the day I found myself with time on hand. I decided to check out the Best Books second hand bookstore that was just a minute’s ride away at Lakdikapul and see if I can find some books that one of my brothers wanted. I couldn’t find those books but I came across a book I had read only a few hours before. I had been reading about Malcolm Cowley on Arts and Letters Daily website and wondered if I could find any of his books. I was pleasantly surprised to find a copy of ‘Exile’s Return’ by Malcolm Cowley on the shelf at the Best Books store and took it.