The Sunday Haul (on 17-02-2019)

All signs that summer is not too far away are around us: it is warmer, the sunlight is no longer mild, and there's the change in vegetation. It isn’t really summer though but it felt that way at Abids last Sunday. Luckily, I had taken along my cap which made it bearable to be out in the open.

I am embarrassed to admit that I haven’t read much Dylan Thomas. I know this would sound ridiculous that someone like me who enjoys reading poetry hasn’t much knowledge about Dylan Thomas. Something wonderful happened after I picked up a copy of ‘Life with Dylan Thomas’ by Caitlin Thomas. A fan of Dylan Thomas began following me on Twitter moments after I bought this title. It was a curious coincidence.

I had come across copies of titles by Anita Brookner in the past but somehow did not have the good sense to pick them up. Last Sunday when I spotted a copy ‘Look at Me’ by Anita Brookner in a heap of Rs 30 books I picked it up. I started reading it yesterday and found it to be a wonderful book and felt an idiot for not having bought her books when I came across them earlier.

I already have two copies of ‘An Atlas of Impossible Longing’ by Anuradha Roy, and have given away one of them. However, I haven’t yet read it though my friend is urging me to read it. I know Anuradha Roy is a wonderful writer and had got a copy of ‘All the Lives We Never Lived’ her latest title that I had signed by the author at Lit for Life in Chennai last month. When I saw yet another copy of ‘An Atlas of Impossible Longing’ I did not hesitate before buying it. There will be someone else who might want to read something wonderful.

The Recent Hauls

There have been no posts here on this blog since the past couple of weeks because I was involved in conducting a training course for senior officers at our Institute and then I myself underwent a training course at New Delhi soon after. It left me with no time to write about all the books I had picked up in the meantime.

The Birthday Gift
Before I left for New Delhi, in fact on the day I was leaving Hyderabad I got a book as a birthday gift from a friend in Mumbai who had asked to choose a title I wanted to read. I received a new copy of ‘Milk Teeth’ by Amrita Mahale. It was a hardcover copy and I left it at home because I planned to read it sometime in the future.

The Haul at Delhi
During my previous visit to New Delhi in November I had been to Jackson Books in Pahargunj and picked up four titles. This time I again went there and managed to find three wonderful titles. I found a nice copy of ‘Milkman’ by Anna Burns that I did not expect to find so soon. Then I saw ‘The Big Knockover’ by Dashiell Hammett that I added to the haul. The last find was a beautiful copy of ‘Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life’ by Karen Armstrong. I had picked up ‘Through the Narrow Gate’ by Karen Armstrong some time ago and after reading it had found a copy of ‘The Spiral Staircase’ that I am yet to read. Impressed by ‘Through the Narrow Gate’ I picked up ‘Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life’ that I hope to read soon.

One of the days I was in New Delhi I had read a tweet about a book related event in ‘Oxford Book Store’ in Connaught Place. Since Connaught Place was within walking distance of YMCA where we were put up I dropped into listen to the conversation between Ambarish Satwik and Mirza Waheed about the latter’s ‘Tell Her Everything.’ It was interesting enough though I had to hurry away for a dinner appointment but not before picking up a copy of ‘Kashi Ki Assi’ by Kashinath Singh.

The Sunday Haul

I was back home at Hyderabad on Friday night and a day after it was Sunday which meant book hunting in Abids. I had been looking for a copy of ‘YOUNGUNCLE COMES TO TOWN’ by Vandana Singh that I wanted to present to someone in my office but I couldn’t find it then. The person is no longer coming to the office so there was really no need for me to buy it when I saw it last Sunday at Abids. But I bought it hoping I’d meet that person again sometime soon. Another reason was that I was getting this copy for just ten rupees.

A long time back in 2013 I had picked up a title by Janwillem van de Wetering (Tumbleweed) that I discovered to my delight was a crackling read. Soon afterwards I happened to find ‘The Japanese Corpse’ by the same writer. Though I wanted to read more titles by van de Wetering I couldn’t find any subsequently. However last Sunday I spotted ‘Outsider in Amsterdam’ by Janwillem van de Wetering. I got it for eighty rupees and I felt glad I found another good crime title.

Again a long time back I had discovered another wonderful writer- Lisa St Aubin de Teran. The first title I had found was ‘The Last Train to Milan’ and soon after I found ‘Keepers of the House’ and a couple of years later I found ‘Memory Maps,’ Last Sunday in a heap of books selling for only twenty rupees I saw a copy of ‘Joanna’ by Lisa St Aubin de Teran that I grabbed right away. Somehow I had failed to notice a copy of ‘Oxford’ by Jan Morris that was in the same heap. I picked up this copy after Uma pointed it out to me on the way back.
All of them finds add up to nine books so far this month.