Exploring bookshops

As an introvert, I mostly prefer to stay at home on weekends to enjoy a cup of tea and a good book. So, in order to make me go out, the best lure my husband has found out (previously used by my parents too) is to casually remark that, “there is a bookstore over there too, by the way”. And, that”s that, I am up and ready in matter of a few minutes. After all, there is no other place more awesome than a bookshop (or library) and no, I don”t care if you disagree or have anything to say otherwise. Bookshops are simply magical and only those who truly love books will feel it, love as in not just reading but love for books as a magical object too. And, so the love for bookshops is only natural for us book lovers and we all can relate to the pleasure of breathing in that intoxicating vanilla perfume found within the shops and in between new and old pages; there is a pleasure too in beholding, in awe, the racks and shelves stacked with books of all kind in neat arrangement, but more beautifully, piled on ground and in cramped spaces, from floor to ceiling. I can pour hours and hours in such a place, running my finger through spine of books, murmuring the titles under the breathe, occassionally taking out a tattered copy to read the blurb in the back or dust jacket, and sometimes, tucking one of them under my arm to take it home. All of this is beautifully handled by my loved ones who after much test of patience gently hint of aching back with a “Maybe we could come again later?” and I can”t help falling in love with them all over again.\n\nWhile I was in Chennai, I had been to almost all the bookshops there that were worth going to (or rather I got opportunity to): Higginbothams (the store in Anna Salai – it has a feeling of an old building, it was opened in 1905, after all! The collection is very good, the second hand section is a bit stiffling and hot but worth perusing through. Also, the branch in my university whose owner knew that I would buy a book no matter what else I went to buy in there even though the collection was limited, I mostly bought Ruskin Bond there), Giggles (a tiny shop literally stuffed with books owned by a lovely old lady offering intelligent conversation and brilliant recommendations), Crossword (it is too small, I don”t remember the location, it”s somewhere near Marina Beach), Landmark (in City Center, good collection but still not satisfactory), and Star Mark (in Phoenix Market City – the collection is comparatively better than other showroom kind of bookstores).\n\nAfter moving to Bangalore, it was only a matter of time for me to start exploring bookshops here too. The first one near my home in Forum Mall is a Crossword, it”s small but somehow the collection is nice. I have also been to the Crossword in VR Mall and again, the collection is not bad but still nothing more than the usual, mostly targeting teen readers and lovers of Chetan Bhagat and the like authors, although the offers on beautiful hardback classics are good. The next bookshop that I went to literally made my jaw drop is not really a shop but a spacious kiosk in front of Innovative Theatre in Marathahalli, its attraction lies in the tags hanging everywhere with “Rs 100 per Kg”! No doubt, they keep an assortment of hardbacks, all weighty tomes. But, there are many cheap paperbacks too, all in quite good condition and they have a huge range of children books, and of course, classics. I fell in love with it and go there almost every month. I had also heard a lot about Blossom Book House in Church Street and finally got a chance to go there this week. The place really deserves the fame what with its four floors, all cramped and stacked with a bajillion of books from floor to ceiling, helpfully sectioned and yet failing at it. I literally got lost in the sea of shelves, and taking out a book from the pile was a challenge to make sure the books on top didn”t topple off. The smell was heavenly and the collection was definitely very good. No doubt, I spent considerable time there gawping at the shelves than actually picking something to buy. And, finally, while trying to find Blossoms, I also ended up in a shop called The Bookworm. It was small but equally cramped and all in all, a great place to buy second hand books as well as new books with good discount and a helpful owner. \n\nI am aware that Avenue Road is book street of Bangalore and that is where I intend to go next when I get into the book buying mode because right now I have so many to-read books in my bookcase and Kindle that some times, just some times only though, I feel guilty of having bought so many books.