The Sunday Haul (on 11-11-2018)

With Diwali and the Diwali shoppers out of the way Abids was back to its old self last Sunday with the second hand booksellers at their usual spots when I went as usual to look for good titles. Since I rarely return from these trips empty handed last Sunday I managed to pick up a lot of five interesting books.

Sometimes I come across books that I somehow feel are special in some way. Either it is because of the title or the name of the author or the way the book is, one gets the strong urge to pick it up. When I saw a hardcover copy of ‘The Mouse and His Child’ by Russel Hoban I felt that I had to take it though I don’t (unfortunately) read much fiction meant for children.

Then next find was a title I remembered having read about long back which was ‘I Never Promised You a Rose Garden’ by Hannah Green. I spotted this title in a heap of books selling for twenty rupees and picked it up. A few minutes after I picked it up I found a nice copy of ‘Love and Friendship’ by Alison Lurie. I bought it mainly because it was a Penguin title and I trust Penguin to publish only very good books.

The next find, the fourth title of the day, was a beautiful, old cookbook, one of a collection of foods from different regions. I picked up the hardcover old book with the title ‘Foods of the Orient-India’ introduced by Sharmini Thiruchelvam, on the cover. I bought the title published in 1978 more for its looks than the recipes inside.

The fifth and last title was actually more of a booklet than a real book. I spotted a copy of ‘Kate Humble’s Guide to 100 Birds of Britain’ by The Telegraph in a different heap of books selling for just ten rupees. I hope it gets me into some keen birdwatching though I may not find the birds described in it.