The Sunday Haul (on 16-10-2016)

These days I am making my Sunday visits to the book bazaar at Abids without much expectation of landing a good haul. It is the festival season of Dasara and Diwali and with the regular shops being open even on Sundays the pavement book sellers aren’t at their usual places and also their stocks are also limited. However though I am returning from Abids with at least one title since the past few Sundays I set out for Abids out of sheer habit. Last Sunday too I thought since Diwali is another fortnight away the shops would be closed and the pavement sellers would be back at their usual places. Though it wasn’t so I managed to end up buying three good titles last Sunday.

The first find was ‘Tim’ by Colleen McCullough that I had been seeing since the past few Sundays. I come across numerous copies of Colleen McCullough’s best known title ‘Thornbirds’ though I haven’t gathered enough confidence to buy it because of its forbidding size and these days I am trying to keep clear of books that would take me at least a month to finish. However ‘Tim’ is a slim book and since I haven’t read any titles by this well-known Australian novelist I thought I’d make a beginning with it. It is a Pan title and I got it for thirty rupees.

There are a few titles about writing I must have picked up at least half a dozen copies of and one such title is ‘The Writing of One Novel’ by Irving Wallace. I must have given away three or four copies to people who have told me that they wanted to write. So I buy this title whenever I see a good copy of it. Last Sunday I found a decent enough copy of ‘The Writing of One Novel’ and bought it quite cheap for just thirty rupees.

Another title, a cookbook, I am unable to resist buying several copies is ‘Made in India’ by Kunal Vijayakar that is quite attractive to look at. Its size, the beautiful finish, and of course, the recipes makes it a good buy. Though I haven’t tried anything in the book I have picked up three copies so far. Last Sunday I found my fourth copy! With Diwali just a few days away from the next Sunday I do not think there would be as many sellers as there were this Sunday. But whatever I will be there next Sunday and every Sunday as long as there are the book sellers on the pavements of Abids.