The Sunday Haul ( on 03-10-2021)

Barring a few shops most of the shops at Abids were closed on Sunday though the festival season had begun with Dasara less than two weeks away, and shoppers already crowding the shops. Most of the sellers were at their usual spots and I expect that this would be the last Sunday when all of them would be around with their books before the festival season begins forcing them to other spots. Anyway, I was pleased with the nice weather and what seemed an abundance of new stocks with some sellers. It meant I managed to find three books at Abids and two more at Chikkadpally.

The first title I found was a copy of ‘The Fugitive Years’ by Robert Bradshaw. I was intrigued that it was an autobiography of someone who had spent more than twenty years in prison. It was a Penguin title so I did not hesitate much before picking it up. Later I sat in Roxy café in King Koti and began reading the book. It is very interesting and I kept reading on for almost an hour.

The sellers put certain titles in different piles and sell them at Rs 20, Rs 50 and Rs 100. One seller had a pile of books selling for only Rs 50 from which I picked up a copy of ‘Certainty’ by Madeleine Thien. I vaguely remembered reading the name somewhere until I noticed on the cover that it was shortlisted for the Man Booker in 2016. I picked it up and offered a Rs 100 note to the seller.

While the seller went around looking for change I spotted a nice copy of ‘In Cold Blood’ by Truman Capote that Hari told me he wanted. I had told him I had a copy at home but I wasn’t able to locate it. So when the seller came back and said he did not have the change so to save trouble I picked up this title as well. 

With another seller near Bata who has heaps of books for Rs 20 and for Rs 50 I spotted a thick volume in the Rs 50 pile. Surprisingly it was also in good condition and appeared like the sort of books one usually doesn’t find going so cheap so I decided to check it out. It turned out to be a copy of ‘The Business of Book Publishing: Papers by Practitioners’ edited by Elizabeth A. Geiser. I am fascinated by the whole business of books beginning with reading them after buying them, of course, and with editing, publishing etc so this titled appealed to the curious reader in me and I bought it.

On the way home I stopped to check out the books with the sellers in Chikkadpally. There’s one seller here who sells almost all his books for Rs 50 each. I spotted a copy of ‘Two Lives’ by William Trevor that I have two copies of already. But I bought this third copy as well. The seller pointed to a white sack beside him and told me to check the books inside. I wasn’t really interested in adding to my pile but I told myself I wouldn’t lose anything by taking a look. There were many titles I wasn’t interested in but one got my attention. It was a copy of ‘boys of blood and bone’ by David Metzenthen, a Penguin title. I always trust Penguin so I decided to take it.