A MidWeek Haul:
While at home during the Lockdown and unable to visit bookstores I resolved to make a round of all the second hand bookstores in Hyderabad. Sometime during the last week I dropped in at the Best Book Centre branch in Lakdikapul. There I found two titles that I bought right away.
I have read very few titles by Ngaio Marsh and found them interesting. I like to read memoirs and autobiographies by writers and have about two dozen such titles with me. So when I saw a copy of ‘Black Beech and Honey Dew’ by Ngaio Marsh with her picture on the cover I picked it up. It was her autobiography and I was thrilled that I had found another autobiography to add to my growing collection.
Right now there is a lot going on about the BLM protests and it looks like it is not going to fade away any time in the near future. ‘Mandingo’ was one book about slavery that absolutely horrified me with its savagery and violence. I am yet to read any of Toni Morrison’s titles and plan to read them now when it is the time to learn more about such lives. At the Best store I found a copy of ‘Coming of Age in Mississippi’ by Anne Moody, another autobiography.
The Sunday Haul
Last Sunday I was at Abids again ignoring the pleas by the family not to step out. Here the cases are rising and things look scary, and it would appear dumb to go out at such a time. But you know how I am when it comes to books. Reason doesn’t take the back seat, it isn’t even allowed to get on my bike when I go to Abids. Anyway, I take along a small bottle of sanitizer that I take out and squirt on my hands after I handle the books, and of course, I wear a mask. Thus prepared I went to Abids last Sunday. It was cloudy though when I reached and began to go around looking for books to buy.
The first title I found was a hardcover copy of ‘Beastly Tales’ by Vikram Seth. There was a stain on the cover but I bought it though I had a feeling at the back of my mind that I already have a copy.
Then a small miracle. Spread out on the pavement before an indifferent seller where a few books and my eye zoomed in on one title that stood out. It was the red cover of ‘Ex-Libris’ by Anne Fadiman. I already have three copies of this title and made it four copies by picking the one lying on the pavement.
A couple of years ago I happened to be regularly reading ‘Lifehacker’ or some such site where I read a few essays by Gretchen Rubin. I liked the style and the content since things were a bit messy in my life at that time not that they are any less messy now. I had actually seen a copy of ‘The Happiness Project’ by Gretchen Rubin around the same time and I, for some reason, did not buy it and it had disappeared when I looked for it on my next visit to Abids. But last Sunday I found another copy in the same pile of books where I found ‘Ex-Libris’ by Anne Fadiman. There were other titles I should have bought but didn’t. The most interesting thing is that I had to pay only fifty rupees for the Fadiman title.
There’s a seller at Abids who rises to meet me enthusiastically when he sees me approaching and takes out books that he has kept aside to show me. When I reached his place he showed me a copy of ‘Wolf’ by Jim Harrison. I had a vague feeling that I may have read about him but it did not strike me as something I must buy. But I thought of not leaving the seller disappointed because by then he had an eager look on his face. He thought I would buy it. Then he took out another title by the same author. It was a copy of ‘Legends of the Fall’ by Jim Harrison that the picture on the cover indicated that it was made into a movie starring Brad Pitt. So I bought them.
I had a cup of tea at Grand next to the Head Post Office and saw a copy of ‘Chronicles Vol-I’ by Bob Dylan. I don’t listen much to music but I know almost all the big names. I also remembered that Bob Dylan got the Nobel. Plus it was an autobiography, something that I don’t miss buying. I bought‘Chronicles’ by Bob Dylan
A couple of years ago I had found a very interesting collection of short stories by the renowned Tamil writer Sundara Ramaswamy. I loved the stories and sometime later I found another title by the same author but I haven’t read it yet. I knew he was one writer not to be missed. So when I saw a beautiful copy of ‘Tamarind History’ by Sundara Ramaswamy with one of the sellers at Chikkadpally I added it to my haul. But it did not come cheap since I had to pay hundred and fifty rupees for it.
There was another title that stirred a memory in my mind but somehow I did not buy it. It is a book by a Malayalam writer and next Sunday I am going to buy it. The name is M. Mukundan.
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