The Sunday Haul (on 14-07-2019)

Last Sunday turned out to be another mega haul Sunday. I came home from Abids with eight books, all of them wonderful titles.
But first, ‘A Goddess in the Stones’ by Normal Lewis was a book that I found a day earlier, on Saturday. It was a holiday for us because it was the second Saturday of the month. On Saturdays I read ‘Mint’, ‘The Business Standard’ and also ‘The Business Line’ that carry supplements with interesting articles. I buy these papers at a newspaper vendor in Lakdi-ka-pul, sit down in an Irani café thereabouts and read these papers over a cup of chai. That done, last Saturday I decided to check out the books with the seller opposite the BSNL building. I spotted a copy of ‘A Goddess in the Stones’ by Normal Lewis that I bought. There was also a copy of ‘The Big Sleep’ by Raymond Chandler that I wanted to buy but did not because the seller quoted too high a price.

On Sunday at Abids the first title I found was a nice copy of ‘Travels with My Aunt’ Graham Greene. I had seen copies of this title earlier too but haven’t picked up for some reason though I love everything that Greene has written. I did want to read this too and so I picked it up for just fifty rupees.

There’s a seller who I shall call ‘Any Book at the Same Price’ seller at Abids who sells all the books with him at the same price- either ten rupees or thirty rupees depending on his mood. I picked up the hardcover copy of ‘Hector Protector & As I Went Over the Water’ that said on the cover that the illustrations were by Maurice Sendak. It was the only reason I bought this title. After buying this I saw a copy of ‘Hers’ by A. Alvarez which was a Penguin title. When I picked up to take a closer look at the back to find out more about the writer the seller said I could have it for ten rupees only. A Alvarez is a British writer and this book was a thriller, and any thriller by a British writer is bound to be good as far as my experience goes.

A couple of Sundays ago I had found a copy of ‘Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual’ by Michael Pollan that I bought and also finished reading in just one hour. It was a wonderful book with some common sense rules about eating and food that everyone needs to know. Last Sunday I saw a nice copy of ‘In Defense of Food’ by Michael Pollan with the same green and white cover. I bought it without much thought and next I hope to find ‘The Omnivore’s Dilemma’ by the same author sometime soon.

Almost eleven years ago in July, 2008 I had found a copy of ‘The Bookshop’ by Penelope Fitzgerald and bought it. Of course, I read it right away. Since then I haven’t been able to find any other title by Penelope Fitzgerald until last Sunday. I spotted a beautiful box with three novels by Penelope Fitzgerald: ‘Offshore’, ‘The Bookshop’ and ‘The Blue Flower’ that were in mint condition. I bought these three novels in the box for hundred and fifty rupees.

The last find of the day was a beautiful copy of ‘Saffron & Pearls’ by Doreen Hassan that I found with a seller at Chikkadpally. I had read about it sometime ago but hadn’t thought I’d find it anywhere other than regular bookstores. So when I spotted this book I bought it. It had a jacket, and in the pages inside were lovely photographs for some of the iconic Hyderabadi dishes along with their recipes. I bought it for only two hundred rupees.