Back with Loads of New Books!

I can’t believe it that the last time I wrote something here was October 2009! But this Blog is very much active.

I am back with a whole lot of Books that are now proudly displayed on my shelf (I must confess, my books are now outgrowing my bookcase. I desperately need a bigger space!)

Here’s the list of my proud acquisitions:

1. Urvashi by Ramdhari Singh Dinkar (Hindi) – an award winning epic-poetry which won him Jnanpith Award. I had heard so much about this when we were kids from our hindi teacher. He used to say that though a masterpiece, we were not of the right age then to appreciate the masterpiece that it was. While I had chanced upon some Hindi works on Mahabharata recently, I suddenly remembered about ‘Urvashi’ and got it!
2. Curfewed Night by Basharat Peer – We have heard so much about Kashmir and the various issues around it, but atleast I have always been drawn to knowing about the people of such disturbed places. While searching for some good books, I chanced upon this review on Curfewed Night and got it.
3. In Other Rooms, Other Wonders by Daniyal Mueenuddin – Yet another fruit of my online research for good books. Read the review here.
4. Indian Summer by Alex Von Tunzelmann – Quite a difficult book to locate. I searched several online bookshopping sites, but eventually got it in ‘BOOK WORLD’ on F.C.Road in Pune. So I did not even think twice on the discounts (anyways they were giving 10% discount on all books). This book is a “secret history of the end of an empire”. Read the review here.
5. Broken Verses by Kamila Shamsie – Well, this book happened to me. I went to Big Bazaar and they were running 60% discount on books! Probably, clearing their whatever book stock is left at their Book corner “DEPOT”. I had heard about Kamila Shamsie and when I read a first few lines and the back cover, the book sounded interesting. Here’s the review.
6. A Princess Remembers: The Memoirs of the Maharani of Jaipur – An autobiography of Maharani Gayatri Devi, I tried hunting for this book also at quite a lot of places, and again found it at BOOK WORLD, in Sagar Arcade, Pune. I bought this with “Indian Summer”. I had read bits and pieces about Maharani Gayatri Devi’s life and was quite intrigued about her life.
7. Size 12 is not Fat by Meg Cabot – Yup, a chicklit! I wanted to buy a chicklit for one of those times when I read very serious stuff and want to read something really light.
8. Prisoner of Tehran by Marina Nemat – Hunting for some books on foreign countries, I chanced upon this one. What hooked me on to this one was “One Woman’s Story of Survival Inside a Torture Jail”. Read the review here.
9. The Great Indian Middle Class by Pavan K. Verma – Picked up at Big Bazaar DEPOT’S 60% off sale. It is quite a popular book and well, I do want to read this one
10. Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali – This international bestseller was on my wishlist for sometime now. Everywhere only the International titles were available which were extremely expensive. But lucky me, I found the Indian edition on Indiaplaza recently and bought it immediately. Read about the book here.
11. The Argumentative Indian by Amartya Sen – I have heard a lot about this Award-winning book. Another one from BOOK WORLD!
12. Native Son by Richard Wright – I first read about this book when a critic compared Aravinda Adiga’s The White Tiger with this one. I went on to read the review but yet again all the bookshopping sites had very expensive international title to the tune of 600-700 rupees. And guess what? I bought it for Rs 50. There’s this perpetual book sale where a lot of books are for Rs 50 and Rs 100, most are useless but sometimes you could just get lucky. Last time I had picked up a hardbound edition of “Nanny Diaries” for Rs 50!
13. Mira and the Mahatma by Sudhir Kakar – I picked up this book from City Palace, Udaipur. We were touring the grand and fascinating City Palace at Udaipur, and I wanted to capture those moments. So, I went to the small bookshop in the City Palace to pick up story of that palace. I did buy the book on Udaipur, and also bought this one. I am always on the quest to read something beyond what is common knowledge. I did not even know about “Mira” so much, so I was curious to read this. Sudhir Kakar is a well—know psychoanalyst and has written several books. I have another book by him called “The Indians”.
14. Mixed Doubles by Jill Mansell – Picked it at Landmark sale. Read about the book here.
15. Nine Parts of Desire by Geraldine Brooks - The book is about "the hidden world of Islamic Women". Need I say more? It has got good reviews too.

Books on Mahabharata - all are great literary works

1. Mahabharata by Kamala Subramaniam - Picked it from a popular bookstore here called POPULAR BOOK STORE
2. The book of Yudhishthir by Buddhadeva Bose (Translation from Bengali) – Really wanted to read Yudhisthir’s story because he never came across as a strong personality. I could never understand how he claimed to be the king!
3. The women of the Mahabharata by Badrinath Chaturvedi
4. Mrityunjaya by Shivaji Sawant (Hindi) – (Translation from Marathi): This book is on Karna. I am having a little trouble reading my first hindi book after school and comics of those years! It is a fat and lengthy book, so my pace is much slower than otherwise.
5. Parva by SL Bhyrappa – (Translation from Kannada): Got hold of this out-of-print book recently through a1books. It is quite a fat book
6. Yayati by V.S. Khandekar – Yayati was an ancestor of Kuru clan. So far, I know this much only. But you may read about the book here.
7. Yugandhar by Shivaji Sawant (Hindi) – (Translation from Marathi)
8. Second Turn by MT Vasudevan Nair – (Translation from Malyalam): This is Bheem’s perspective of the Mahabharata. I had been hunting for this across the country. Finally found it on a1books.co.in. I must say I have got quite a lot of rare books there. And the service is good too.
   
   Phew! I totally got berserk with book shopping. No wonder I don’t save any money. Look at the quantum of books I have bought in last 4 months. My books have crept their way into my dressing table also. But I totally, absolutely and really love my collection. May it increase many times over !