The Sunday Haul (on 18-09-2022)

 After the previous Sunday’s disappointment at not having been to the second hand book market at Abids due to continuous rain I was counting the days to the next Sunday, i.e., last Sunday. The weather was clear and sunny when I started for Abids after breakfast, and managed to find some really good titles in the hour and half that I was at Abids.

Since a long time I’ve been looking for books by Krishna Sobti especially her ‘Zindaginama’ that I found with a seller on WA last December. Last Sunday I found a hardcover copy of ‘Listen Girl’ by Krishna Sobti, the English translation of her ‘Ai Ladki’ that I had read about many time in several places. Translated by Shivanath and published by Katha ‘Listen Girl’s is a little over a hundred pages, just right to finish in a single sitting that I plan to read only after I finish reading ‘Zindaginama’ that is somewhere on one of the shelves at home.  

Then with the same seller I found a book that was by title Penguin that I automatically buy. It was a copy of ‘Ennal’s Point’ by Alun Richards, a writer I had never heard of before. However it seemed interesting as it was described as a ‘vivid and moving story about lifeboats and the men who sail in them’ on the back cover.

In the same pile of books I saw another title by an author I had again never heard of. It had an attractive cover and the title was ‘Saturday Night at the Greyhound’ by John Hampson. The reason why I picked it was that on the cover it also said ‘Hogarth Fiction’ published by Hogarth Press. On the back cover was a blurb by Graham Greene- ‘A Book I greatly admire’ which convinced me that it could indeed be a good read. I got these three books for only hundred rupees. 

Just before I decided to have a cup of tea in the local Irani I saw a nice copy of ‘Right of Passage: Travels from Brooklyn  to Bali’ by Rahul Jacob. It was a collection of travel essays by Rahul Jacob, and since I love travel titles I decided to buy it. I had seen the book earlier too but somehow I did not buy it then.

Even though I do not read sci-fi I couldn’t resist picking up the copy of ‘Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?’ by Philip K. Dick that I saw. I messaged a friend who loves sci-fi if he wanted it but he messaged back saying he had a copy of it. So I bought it for eighty rupees.

A Recent Haul

Not only do I buy books at Abids and second hand bookstores in Hyderabad, I also buy them on WhatsApp groups of a couple of second hand booksellers based in different cities in the country. Last week I had claimed two wonderful travel titles that I wanted to post here since I couldn’t go to Abids on Sunday because it was raining quite heavily all day in Hyderabad.

The first title I had claimed was a nice hardcover copy of ‘The Penguin book of Indian Journeys’ edited by Dom Moraes who has also written the introduction. It is a collection of travel essays by many travel writers such as Jan Morris, Bruce Chatwin, Salman Rushdie, VS Naipaul, Mark Tully, Charlie Pye Smith, James Cameron and many others on various places and journeys within India. Some of these essays I have read elsewhere.

The other title was a nice copy, hardcover again, of ‘Out of God’s Oven’ by Dom Moraes and Sarayu Srivatsa that is described as ‘a revelatory blend of memoir, travelogue and reportage’ of the travels of the authors in India during a time when momentous events took place that shook the country’s conscience and took it in a dangerous direction, perhaps never to be the same again. Somehow I want to read this book right away without losing much time.

The Sunday Haul (on 04-09-2022)

I really do not understand how I missed knowing about this book that was published in 2010, more than a decade ago. I try to learn about books on book and the ‘The Possessed’ by Elif Batuman is one such title. On the cover it says ‘Adventures with Russian books and the people who read them’ which should have alerted me. I guess I haven’t seen this title at Abids or anywhere. But even if I have found it a decade after it was published I don’t mind. On Sunday I saw this book in a pile of Rs 100 books and I was glad I took my time to check out each and every book that looked interesting.

About a few months ago I had read about Stefan Zweig somewhere online and the name stuck in my mind. So last Sunday when I saw a copy of ‘Beware of Pity’ by Stefan Zweig I bought it though I have never read anything by Zweig till then. One reason why I bought it was the attractive cover and the other than it was a Penguin title that I always trust. I got this book for sixty rupees.

The Sunday Haul (on 28-08-2022)

It turned out to be a sunny and bright Sunday morning as I left for Abids to look for books. My heart is full of eager anticipation as I head out to Abids. Every Sunday I manage to find good titles and last Sunday too I found four good ones.

The first title I found was a Penguin title. I spotted a nice copy of ‘Rocking the Babies’ by Linda Raymond and checked to see what it was about. It was an unusual story about two different women who end up caring for infants in a neonatal ICU and bond with each other after some initial mistrust. I wanted to read it right away because it was an unusual story. I got it for eighty rupees.

The next two finds were with the same seller and these were titles I already have. I picked up the two nice copies of ‘The Heart of the Matter’ by Graham Greene and ‘The Quiet American’ by Graham Greene for just thirty rupees each. The seller also had a copy of Greene’s ‘Travels with My Aunt’ which also I have but did not buy. Maybe next Sunday I might pick it up if I see it.

I have developed a thing for books especially memoirs by editors and publishers and have managed to collect a small pile of such books. So last Sunday when I saw a hardcover copy of ‘My Mistake’ by Daniel Menaker I really was not keen on picking it up and seeing what it was. However curiosity got the better of me and when I read on the back cover that Daniel Menaker had been an editor with The New Yorker I bought it without a second thought though I have never heard of Daniel Menaker. It was a lucky find and I am pleased with myself for having bothered to check out the back page or I would have missed this wonderful memoir.