The Sunday Haul (on 21-04-2024)

 Since the last couple of months I have been resolving not to buy books on my visits to the Sunday book market at Abids but haven’t been firm on keeping that resolve. I am not returning from Abids empty handed and last Sunday too I came home from Abids with three good titles that I couldn’t resist buying. 

I like to read books on Africa, books by Africans and have entire shelves filled with titles on Africa both fiction and non-fiction. Last Sunday I found two wonderful African titles. The first title was a nice copy of ‘Say You’re One of Them’ by Uwem Akpan, a collection of stories. These are the stories in it: An Ex-mas Feast (kenya); Fattening for Gabon (Benin); What Language is That? (Ethiopia) Luxurious Hearses (Nigeria); My Parents’ Bedroom (Rwanda); 

 

A little further down the street I spotted another African title- ‘The Translator’ Daoud Hari, a memoir by a translator in Darfur during the conflict. I got it for a hundred rupees. 

 

In a heap of books selling for fifty rupees which I check thoroughly I saw a copy of ‘Blue Highways: A Journey into America’ by William Least Heat Moon. I already have a copy of this title that I found long back but I did not want to let this copy go so I picked it up. I haven’t read it yet so I bought it to read since I have no idea where my first copy is.

The Sunday Haul (14-04-2024)

 It happens very, very rarely that I do not feel like buying any book when I am at Abids on Sunday morning. Last Sunday was one such day when I was very reluctant to pick up even a single book at Abids though there were many titles that I thought I should buy. However that mood lasted for just a few minutes until I finished my cup of chai at Grand Hotel. 

So when I saw a hardcover copy of ‘I am a Stranger Here Myself’ by Bhaichand Patel I shrugged off the no-books-today mood and picked it up. It is a memoir, a genre I love to read plus Bhaichand Patel is a name that isn’t new to me as I have read a few of his columns and loved his style of writing. I got it for a hundred rupees and have also started reading it. 

I have been seeing a copy of Sue Perkins' memoir with a seller since the last few months and if it is still there next Sunday I plan to pick it up. I've enjoyed her shows on TV especially the one about Japan and also the episode where she travels to India. 

The Sunday Haul (on 07-04-2024)

 With Eid just days away some of the second-hand book sellers of Abids shifted their books to other places at Abids last Sunday too. Also it was pretty hot with the temperature somewhere around 40 degrees C but I had a cap on my head so I was prepared for it. The previous Sunday I had seen a copy of ‘Grimm’s Fairy Tales’ alongside the copy of ‘The Arabian Tales’ that I picked up leaving the copy of Grimm’s Fairy Tales for this Sunday if it was available. It was the first thing I checked and luckily the copy was still where it was the previous Sunday. This was also a Barnes & Noble Classics like the copy of ‘The Arabian Tales’ that I had bought last Sunday. 

My next find was a copy of ‘The End of History and the Last Man’ by Francis Fukuyama. I had heard of Francis Fukuyama but was not aware that he had written a book. When I saw that it was a Penguin title I picked it up feeling glad that I had found a good title to read. I got it for fifty rupees.

With the same seller was a copy of ‘The Best American Short Stories- 2006’ edited by Ann Patchett that I hesitated to buy because I thought I had a copy of it already. But on second thoughts I picked it up and later after I got home I checked my shelves and discovered that I have a copy of ‘The Best American Short Stories- 2007’ edited by Stephen King. However i hadn’t read it so I plan to read these two titles one after the other.

The Sunday Haul (on 31.03.2024)

 It had been my wish to read ‘The Arabian Nights’ and last year this wish came true when I found a copy of ‘The Arabian Nights’ that was a sort of abridged version that didn’t make me feel like I have really read the original ‘Arabian Nights’. Last Sunday I spotted a nice copy of ‘The Arabian Nights’ that was a Barnes & Noble Classics copy that was 662 pages long and felt like a brick. I was overjoyed at finding this copy with a beautiful cover that I got for two hundred rupees after a bit of haggling. There was a copy of ‘Grimm’s Fairy Tales’ also beside it that was also a Barnes & Noble edition and looked like a twin of the copy of ‘The Arabian Nights’. I will buy it next Sunday if it is available.

 After buying this hefty book I thought I wouldn’t be tempted to buy any other title but when I spotted a nice copy of ‘Tibetan Foothold’ by Dervla Murphy in a heap of books selling for fifty rupees. I already have a copy but I bought it anyway because I was getting it for fifty rupees only and besides, I can give it to someone who might be interested in reading it. 

 

Then I spotted a beautiful and almost new copy of ‘The Elements of Style’ by William Strunk Jr and E.B. White, the timeless classic. At first I resisted the urge to buy it and walked away but when the seller shouted after me that he would give it to me for fifty rupees I wilted and ended up buying it. 

 

Of course, it was pretty hot on Sunday with the temperature somewhere around 40 degrees C but habit being habit I had to come to Abids. I’ve no regrets because I went home feeling a quiet joy inside at finding three good books.