The Sunday Hauls (on 19-06-2022 onwards )

 I’ve been quite busy the past month with heavy work conducting  three-day training courses at the rate of one every week. It is quite stressful conducting them as it requires a lot of coordination, paperwork, and on top of it I was also taking sessions for two full days in each course which meant standing almost all day. It left me quite exhausted and though I visited Abids and picked up books I simply did not have the time to do the posts. So I am doing a combined post of three Sunday hauls.

The Haul on 19-06-2022.

After a fortnight’s gap I was eager to visit Abids and see what I would find in my haul of books at the second hand book markets that comes up on Sundays in Hyderabad. The previous Sunday I was unable to go to Abids as I was not well and wanted to rest instead of exerting myself at Abids in the hot sun. I picked up four titles out of which three titles seem quite good.

There is no other continent that fascinates me as much as Africa. I picked every book I can find on Africa, about Africa written by Africans and also non-Africans. Of all the travel titles I have on my bookshelves books on Africa make up for more than half. I almost missed looking at the nice copy of ‘Move Your Shadow; South Africa, Black and White’ by Joseph Lelyveld that I could spot at the last moment. It was lying on the ground among other titles but the title caught my eye. I felt excited after I saw that it was a Pulitzer Prize winner, and also that it was an ‘Abacus’ title. I do not remember reading about this title anywhere so I felt quite elated to realize that I had found a very good book. I got it for just eighty rupees.

I also read a lot of crime fiction and when I saw a copy of ‘Spook Country’ by William Gibson that was a Penguin title I picked it up instantly. I got it for a hundred rupees. But when I started reading it I was a bit disappointed with the writing and the story so abandoned it.

Again this was a book I almost did not buy because of the bad condition of the cover. ‘Say Goodbye to Sam’ by Michael J. Arlen. This was also a Penguin title that I normally buy without a second thought. I took another look at the cover and noticed that some of the inside pages were also stained. But the blurb on the cover was what finally made me buy it. It said that the book was a National Book Award winner.

Though I already have a copy of ‘The Story of a Brief Marriage’ by Anuk Arudpragasam I decided to buy the copy I saw last Sunday because I want to give this beautiful book to a friend. However, it is his next title- A Passage North- that I am looking for though I do not think I would be able to find a second hand copy so soon because it is not even a year since it has been out.

Sunday Haul on 27-06-2022

Not so long back I had, once again, foolishly let go of a Hannah Arendt title that I had spotted. To be fair to myself, I had no idea then of Hannah Arendt, and despite an urging inside to pick it up I did not. Soon afterwards I came to know who Hannah Arendt was and was filled with regret for not listening to my inner urge and ignoring her title I had seen at Abids. Anyway, on the last Sunday of June I saw a nice copy of ‘Crises of the Republic’ by Hannah Arendt in a pile of children’s’ books and grabbed it immediately. It has four essays: Lying in Politics, Civil Disobedience, On Violence, and Thoughts on Politics and Revolution.

Somehow this Sunday seemed to be the day for revolutionaries since the next title I spotted was a beautiful copy of ‘Words of Freedom’ by Aruna Asaf Ali, a Penguin title.

There’s a book, a graphic novel in fact, that my friend’s been telling me about and urging me to read. Somehow I am reluctant to read graphic novels for some reason even I cannot understand. She had told me about ‘Persepolis’ by Marjane Satrapi that I had come across a few times at Abids but hadn’t bought. But last Sunday when I saw a nice copy of the title I decided to buy and fulfill my friend’s wish to read it. I got this nice copy for a hundred rupees.

The Sunday Haul (on 03-07-2022)

Even though there was a forecast of rain on Sunday fortunately it did not rain in the morning while I was at Abids. However it was cloudy and cool as I went around checking out the books laid out on the pavements hoping I would strike gold and find something truly wonderful. Though I did not find anything wonderful I found an interesting title and another a copy of a title I already have.

I spotted a copy of ‘The Quiet Fear’ by Michael Halliday with a cover that seemed interesting. It was a small, slim book and I thought it would be an interesting read. Also, it was published by Hodder. I got it for forty rupees. Later when I searched online for Michael Halliday I came to know that it was another name used by John Creasey.

Sometime back I had found a nice copy of ‘The Artist’s Way’ by Jullia Cameron. I even did the ‘morning pages’ for a couple of months but couldn’t make it a habit. A lot in the book is useful advice and when I saw another copy of it I bought it hoping I would be able to help someone out by giving it to them.