Book Orgy

A few months ago I wrote about the second hand bookstores of Bangalore, Blossom and Bookworm, regular haunts and the source of some of the most interesting books in my collection. I don’t remember a single occasion when I have walked out of either of these stores empty-handed. What truly delights me about both these stores is not just the act of acquiring books, it’s the ritual of browsing through the crowded aisles with shelves of  dust covered books and stumbling on a book that was just waiting to be found by me.

I have always enjoyed browsing bookstores and buying books, but Bangalore has added to the pleasure with Blossom, Bookworm and the bi-annual Strand Bookstall sales. It touched new heights this weekend with the “Buy Books by the kilo” sale. I first heard about it from a colleague and dismissed it. But then I saw the advertisement in the newspaper and decided to go take a look since it was so close to my house. I was sure I wouldn’t find anything worth buying, but was I wrong. I picked up 5 kilos of books within 15 minutes of entering the hall and by the time my friend and I had sorted out, discarded some books and reached the billing counters, we were dragging two baskets with 19 kilos of books – coffee table books, novels, illustrated recipe books, children’s books and even some French books! 🙂

Some of the best buys :
1. La Guide de la Trentaine ( a delightful bande dessinée i.e. comic in French.)
2. Jane Austen ( a coffee table book that gives an interesting glimpse into the author’s life through excerpts from letters and personal diaries.)
3. Remarkable Feasts –  adventures on the food trail from Baton Rouge to Old Peking ( a beautifully illustrated edition)
4. A Table in Provence – classic recipes from the South of France ( another beautifully illustrated copy)
5. The Lady Elizabeth ( the story of Elizabeth I before she became the queen.)
6….and the pièce de résistance (for me) : Monet’s Cookery Notebooks – Claude Monet’s life at Giverny and personal recipe collection! 🙂