The Sunday Haul (on 5-2-17)

Since the beginning of this year I’ve brought home an average of four books from Abids every Sunday. Last month I hauled in a total of twenty odd books and last Sunday I picked up four more books. If this trend goes on I guess there would be a small mountain of books at home. Every Sunday before starting for Abids I make a resolve to pick up just one book if I cannot help it but end up buying more than one title. So last Sunday when I saw four good titles I was unable to resist not buying them.

My first two finds last Sunday was not at Abids but at Chikkadpally. The seller had some fresh stock and the books appeared all new. I found a wonderful copy of ‘In the Heart of the Country’ by J.M. Coetzee that I snapped up as it was almost brand new. The next find was ‘Our Moon Has Blood Clots’ by Rahul Pandita. This was another brand new book. There were more than a dozen new titles in the stock with the seller at Chikkadpally including Mihir Sharma’s ‘Restart’ that I somehow did not buy. I got these two titles at thirty rupees each.

I thought of returning home with these two books but my Sunday is never complete without a visit to Abids so I went on. I hadn’t met my friends since a couple of weeks so I thought they’d be disappointed if I do not turn up. However I was a bit disappointed that none of my usual Abids friends turned up. Alone I went around and chanced upon two wonderful titles- one about writing and the other about reading- two things I love to do.

Apart from books that I have loved reading I also buy multiple copies of books on reading and writing because someone or the other is always asking me for books on writing. So last Sunday when I spotted yet another copy of ‘Bird by Bird’ by Anne Lamott I picked it up. It was in good condition and I was getting it quite cheap. I had found my first copy of this title a long time but after a long search. ‘Bird by Bird’ is a recommended read for anyone who plans to begin writing and, as I have found, it is quite an useful book for writers taking their first steps.

The second find was about reading. It was a nice copy of ‘How to Read a Book’ by Mortimer Adler and Charles van Doren. The previous owner of this book seemed to have read this book thoroughly because it is underlined, passages highlighted, and remarks written in the pages of this copy. I think I had read about this book a long time back and had also made a note of the title in one of my notebooks. I am glad I found this wonderful book about reading a book, and naturally, I am eager to read this book right away.