The Sunday Haul (on 09-03-2025)

 

I did not count how many books I have bought since the beginning of this year but my guess is that I must have picked up about two dozen books including those I ordered online. So I thought I’d go easy on Sundays at Abids but I am unable to buy anything less than four books each Sunday. Last Sunday too I picked up four books, all of them I found unable to resist buying. 

The first book I picked up was one because of the cover and the fact that I had never heard of this book before. I saw a copy of ‘The Wildest Sport of All’ by Prakash Singh, that was about tiger hunts and I had a hunch that it was something good and took it. I got it for a hundred rupees. It turned out to be the chronicle of the tiger hunting experiences of the author’s father-in-law when it was not yet illegal to hunt tigers. I was surprised that this was published just a decade ago, in 2015.

Sometime in February 2021 I had found a copy of ‘Fortunes of War Volume II: The Levant Trilogy’ by Olivia Manning that I read shortly afterwards. I forgot all about it thinking I would never find the other volumes but I was surprised when I came across a copy of ‘Fortunes of War: The Balkan Trilogy’ by Olivia Manning in a heap of books selling for a hundred rupees. I did not know if I would be able to read the thick novel running into a little over nine hundred pages and almost walked away. But I picked it up hoping to read it sometime since I would be able to find time as I am not retired and do not have to go to work anymore. 

Of late I seem to be picking up books by journalists mostly like the title by Alan Rusbridger that I found the previous Sunday. The third book in last Sunday’s haul was a nice copy of ‘The Shock Doctrine’ by Naomi Klein that I looked at for a long time wondering whether to buy it or not and finally bought it. I got it for hundred rupees. While sitting in the Star of India café and sipping chai I managed to read the Introduction to the book. I will continue to read it until I finish it. 

I had heard about ‘Goodnight and God Bless’ by Anita Nair and had also checked out a copy in a bookstore shortly after it was launched. Somehow, I did not buy it though I should have because I love to read this type of books. So, when I saw a nice copy at Abids I eagerly grabbed it. I paid only fifty rupees for this book that now appears wonderful after I read a few random pages.