Not a Sunday Haul

 Last Sunday I couldn't make it to Abids to look for books as I was not well. I wanted to rest and take it easy though it wasn't possible because I was wondering what titles I would have found had I been to Abids. My Sunday feels incomplete without a visit to Abids. However, I compensate for that by either visiting a bookstore or buying books on a few WhatsApp groups of sellers of second hand books. They have regular sales where they post pictures of the covers and whoever claims the book first gets it. These are some of the titles I managed to claim and get in such sales in the past couple of weeks. 

I love William Trevor's writing and I got this title in the post only yesterday. It is a novella of about 70 pages. I am looking forward to read it sometime this week. 

Another title I had heard about and was looking forward to find was a copy of this monster of a book with 1007 pages. 'Funeral Nights' by Kynpham Sing Nongkynrih. I need at least a month to finish reading this title. 

Sometime last week I claimed and got Pico Iyer's 'The Art of Stillness' that I had noted down in my 'to buy and read' list. I had not expected to find it so soon but here it is. It is a collection of essays. 

I first read about Wislawa Szymborska in a poet's post on FB a long time back, and ever since I have been looking for a title by this poet. When I saw this title posted on a WA group I jumped to claim it first. Funnily enough, just as no one had claimed William Trevor's 'Nights at Alexandra' Szymborska had no claimants! 

The Sunday Haul (05-06-2022)

Last Sunday again it was a sort of heat wave condition making it very hot outdoors. Though it wasn’t the hottest day of the summer it was hot enough for me to take along a cap and a water bottle. Surprisingly, the heat had not deterred the book lovers because there was the usual crowd at Abids looking over the books laid out on the pavements. I ended up buying three good titles at Abids and also at Chikkadpally on the way home.

Of late I have become interested in books about other countries, especially those travelogues with a geo-political angle and so far I have managed to gather quite a few titles on many major countries and regions. This includes China too and last Sunday at Abids I finally bought a copy of ‘The China Syndrome’ by Harsh V. Pant that I had been seeing with a seller for the past few weeks. I decided to buy it since no one seemed to be interested in the book. It was a copy without a jacket but the title was pasted on the front cover. I got it for a hundred rupees.

Naturally enough I would be more interested in reading about my own country especially books written by non-Indians. Books on India also occupy a fairly large space on my bookshelves and last Sunday I found one more title but not at Abids. At one of the sellers in Chikkadpally I found a copy of ‘India Seen Afar’ by Kathleen Raine, hardcover book without a jacket and only the spine displayed the title. It seemed interesting so I bought it. I paid a hundred rupees for this book too.

I saw a copy of ‘Death in Venice & Other Stories’ by Thomas Mann with another seller in Chikkadpally. I already have a copy of ‘Death in Venice’ that I had found recently somewhere. This book had other stories too so I bought it paying eighty rupees for it. The other stories in it include Little Herr Friedemann; The Joker; The Road to the Churchyard; Gladius Dei; Tristan; Tonio Kröger, and the title story.

The Sunday Haul (on 29-05-2022)

Last Sunday it was sunny but not too warm and I went to Abids without my cap. It didn’t matter much because it wasn’t uncomfortable as I looked around the books on the pavements. There are some days when you know the haul isn’t going to be as good as it was in the previous Sundays. Last Sunday turned out to be one such Sunday as I found only one title.

I saw a nice copy of ‘Natural Causes’ by James Oswald that was a Penguin title that I automatically buy knowing it would be good. This was a crime fiction title, something I like to read, and so was tempted to buy. Actually there were two titles by the same author but when I looked at the prices on the back cover I put them back since I did not want to pay the two hundred odd rupees that I knew the seller would ask. It turned out to be a smart decision since I saw another copy of ‘Natural Causes’ by James Oswald in a heap of books with a Rs 50 sign. I bought it right away and felt smart, for once.