The Sunday Haul (on 20/12/2020)

Happy Christmas!

It was a bright and sunny morning on Sunday when I reached Abids. The weather in Hyderabad is wonderful at this time of the year though it is a bit cold the sun is always out and the mornings are warm and bright. The previous Sunday I had seen two titles that I wanted to buy but the prices the seller quoted put me off. Later I felt I should have paid whatever he had asked and picked up the books, and had regretted I had not done so.

Last Sunday I thought the first thing I would do was to pick up those two books. Fortunately no one had bought them probably because the seller is a bit far away from the usual places. I picked up the nice copy of ‘The Global Soul’ by Pico Iyer that was the first title I had not picked up the previous Sunday. It had a striking cover with colourful ballpoint pens on it. I already have a copy of ‘The Global Soul’ though with a different cover but I bought this copy for its good condition and attractive cover.

The second title I had missed the previous Sunday was the copy of ‘At Play in the Fields of the Lord’ by Peter Matthiessen that was almost new. Except ‘The Snow Leopard’ by Peter Matthiessen that I had read almost half a dozen times I had not read anything else by Matthiessen. So finding this title had me pretty excited. I got these two titles for three hundred and fifty rupees, a steep price but totally worth it I guess.

Even before I found these two titles there was another book I came across- a copy of ‘Journals’ by Robert Falcon Scott, an account of Captain Scott’s Last Expedition based on the journals maintained by Captain Scott. It is a thick volume and I think this is my second book about the explorer. Earlier I had found a copy of ‘The Worst Journey in the World by Apsley Cherry-Garrard, an account of Scott’s last Atlantic Expedition.

Hyderabad Book Fair news

A prominent seller at the Abids book bazaar gave me some good news. When I asked him if the Hyderabad Book Fair was as good as cancelled he gave me the good news that it was likely that the Book Fair would be held in February. Hearing it lifted my spirits because I had almost given up hope that the Book Fair would not be held at all due to the pandemic. I am really looking forward to more news about the Hyderabad Book Fair soon.