26th Annual Book Fair

I’ve not been too excited about visiting the  Annual Book Fair of Hyderabad this time as I’ve been buying books all through the year. Nevertheless, I couldn’t help the adrenaline rush at the sight of  so many books at one place. I hoped to find some good bargains from the used collection and of course wanted to grab a few Telugu books to which I don’t have easy access from where I live. I also wanted to limit my purchase to maximum of 6 items. And so I bought the following:

1. Rachayitri by Ranganayakamma: I’ve already read this, but wanted to have a personal copy.
2. We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver: Heard about it first around one-and-a-half year ago and it instantly piqued my interest. It’s a mother’s narrative about her son, who commits mass murder. It won the Orange Prize for fiction in 2005.
3. Ampasayya by Naveen: This author had been recommended to me by a literature friend. This particular work brought the author so much reputation that “Ampasayya” has become a prefix to his name ever since. I felt that it’s only proper to start reading this author with this great work.
4. Paradise and Other Stories by Khushwant Singh: Recently got the taste of his candid, honest, and fearless writing and was quite impressed by his personality.  I’m sure I won’t be disappointed by this collection of  short stories.
5. Pekamedalu and Chaduvukunna Kamala by Ranganayakamma: This is a collection of two novels. I’ve become kind of addicted to Ranganayakamma’s fiction and it seems I can’t wait long before I read everything by her. The best thing I like about her books, other than the content, is the colorful hardbound, with high-quality paper and a surprisingly low price.
6. Mana Smasyalu – Krishnaji Samadhanalu of Jiddu Krishnamurthy foundation by Abburi Chayadevi: My experience with Krishnamurthy literature is intermittent at the best. I’ve read a couple of books about his philosophy in the past but can’t really say I digested even little of it. I felt that his philosophy is complex to understand and practice. I hope this short introductory book will reignite my interest and would lead me to explore  more of the great personality.
7. Oka Hijra Katha -Suprasiddha Urdu, Hindi Anuvada Kathalu, translated by Paravastu Lokeswar: Picked this up as I wanted to explore the Urdu and Hindi literature. Read a couple of translated stories recently from “The Inner Courtyard – Stories by Indian Women” and liked them.

Yes, the count is one more than the target but being a lenient person, I excuse myself for this violation. In fact, I bought the last book with the scraped change left as I didn’t like the feel of unexpended money in my purse.

While I was going through the used collections, I found, much to my chagrin, that some of the books I’ve bought recently for their marked retail prices are there for 30 bucks and 50 bucks and in good condition too.

Yet again I realized that how inadequate are  the three hours I can usually spend per day in that vast arena of books. Surely, would require at least another day to cover the stalls to a decent extent. I’m extremely happy to add the new books to my collection but I’m faced with a new challenge of accommodating them. My bookshelves have already been overflowing for quite some time now and I should really give it a serious thought and  come up with a solution soon.

Revisit to the Book Fair

Bingo! I’ ve been to the Book Fair again. I feel doubly satisfied with 6 more books on my  shelf. As planned I went along with my grandfather and his friends joined us for a while at the destination. This time I could browse through the stalls leisurely and managed to get the books on my list.

So, here they are:

1. Mother Pious Lady: Making Sense of Everyday India by Santosh Desai. This is a collection of essays on small things about India that truly matter.
2. Love Will Follow: Why the Indian Marriage is burning by Shaifali Sandhya.  This is one non-fiction book , which I’ve been eager to read since a very long time. I can’t wait to lay my hands on it.
3. No Onions Nor Garlic by Srividya Natarajan. A simple Indian fiction. But curious title. Don’t you agree?
4. The Inscrutable Americans by Anurag Mathur. This is yet another book I’ve been longing to read. But I don’t even have an idea about whether this is a fiction or non-fiction. It’s just that the title got me hooked.
5. I Don’t Know How She Does It by Allison Pearson. The book cover is all pink and needless to say it’s a chick-lit. The fact that it’s about a woman who tries and strives to be a wonder woman – the one who can do everything that is demanded of her – piqued my interest in it.
6. Atonement by Ian McEwan. Heard that this Booker winner is the best of the acclaimed British writer and so I wanted to give it a try. In fact, I’m sure I’ll like it.

Wow, I’m excited. I think “reading all the books bought in 2010″ will be an awesome resolution for 2011. Don’t you think so too??

25th Annual Book Fair of Hyderabad

Hurray! I visited the much awaited 25th annual book fair of Hyderabad yesterday. You have no idea how much I’ve been anticipating it. It has been 4 or 5 years since I’ve last been to it. This time it was awesome with more than 270 stalls (I didn’t count them. It was claimed so in the advertisements .). No doubt it’s treat to book lovers like me. But alas, I couldn’t explore all of them as I was hindered by my persistent back ache. But no worries, I plan to revisit it next week, this time with my beloved Grandpa, who is as much a book lover as I am.

In total, I bought 6 books, out of which 4 are of Telugu and the rest 2 English. These are the books I purchased:

1. Krishnaveni by Ranganayakamma (New edition). I’ve read about the release recently in The Hindu and ever since planning to get a copy.  It’s flattering hardcover won my heart.
2. Athagari Kathalu by Bhanumathi Ramakrishna. Heard from friends that these stories are such a funny read that I had to get the book.
3. Dargamitta Kathalu by Mohammad Khadeerbabu. I was bowled over by the author’s previous work – Poleramma Banda Kathalu – that I pounced upon this collection eager to get the same experience again, with a new set of stories.
4. Bharatam lo Chinna Kathalu by Prayaga Ramakrishna. This is one of my all-time favorite books. My dad brought this home one day, more than a decade ago and I fell in love with those stories. I believe I read the book multiple times before it got lost somewhere. And now, after all these years, I held it in my hands. I think I need not explain how thrilling and exciting the moment was.
5. Wise and Otherwise by Sudha Murthy. Another collection of stories. I’ve read many good things about this book  and this too had been in my to-read list for a long time.
6. A Thing Beyond Forever by Novneel Chakraborthy.  I chanced upon this book online once and it seemed worth a try. Here is the blog which influenced my decision: http://nbconline.blogspot.com/2008/07/thing-beyond-forever.html

There were so many other books, which kept me and my purse pulling towards them but I had to restrain myself. There are a few books from my list, which one of the booksellers had promised me to get in the next few days. So, you can be sure that I would be doing more shopping during my second visit.