Ze Book Lover Mode

Saturday, November 11. I'm walking on Margosa Road, after the ATM people decided to shut down for some time, and the laptop person is busy talking to somebody else. I see this bylane, with a wall painting of "Bangalore Book Shop". I'm intrigued, and step into the lane. A few steps, and a narrow lane beckons to a "shop of two floors and all types of books!" I'm turned off by the residential setting, and walk out back onto the main road. And as I do, I approach the front entrance of this shop.

I walk in, and look at the initial displays, and am impressed. The excellent Dorling-Kindersley Eyewitness series is prominently displayed. I haven't seen this since school, they're excellent photographic references on a variety of subjects. Highly recommended (but very expensive!). But this is just the stairs yet. I continue walking, and reach the "first floor".

Woo hoo! Paradise! This shop is so new, they're still unpacking a lot of books! But this also means that they've bought entire series of books --- Arthur Hailey, Enid Blyton, Asterix/Tintin, Thomas Harris (I finally see the Silence of the Lambs as a book!) and what not! This is largely the "children's" section, so I also see a lot of comics that I read as a child -- the venerable Amar Chitra Kathas! They're now priced at Rs. 30 each, and one day I shall buy the entire collection, but it's really good that they still are available. They're invaluable references for kids (and adults) on Indian history and lore.

There's a technical section, of course, but there's nothing there that's of use to me now. I don't visit the second floor, I'll visit that sometime later. It helps that the shop is about 10 minutes from the Institute :)

And in still bigger news, the Strand Book Fair comes to Bangalore! November 24--December 10, at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. I sorely regret missing it in Mumbai this time (been a regular since junior college), and it's wonderful they're coming here. If it's the same rules -- minimum 40% off and upto 80% off --- I'm gonna enjoy going there!

Here's a few plugs: if you're gonna buy non-computer books, go to Strand Book Stall, and avoid others like the plague. They're a no-nonsense store that really cares about penniless readers. With their fabulous discounts you save money, and of course buy more books! What about Bangalore Bookshop? Well, they've discounts of 15%, I think, so maybe I may not end up buying from them.

What about computer books? Computer Bookshop, of course.