books, oh books

i started reading ‘the thousand autumns of jacob de zoet’ by david mitchell last night. all those who know me will know of my love affair with mitchell and his writing, and can understand how ecstatic i must be right now. (the novel is placed right besides my laptop, and my eyes stray lovingly there every now and then.) for those who don’t know, I LOVE DAVID MITCHELL and his writing and novels are AWESOME. 'cloud atlas' was too brilliant, and 'black swan green' had me swanning.. (okay, i’ve stopped drooling and am back to the keyboard)

on my way to the airport while returning to bombay some time ago, i stopped by a bookstore quickly, to see if i could find some good reads. heading to the literary section, i saw mitchell’s new novel, the new sebastian faulks novel, ‘a week in december’, and muriel barberry’s ‘the elegance of the hedgehog’, which z had recommended to me eons ago, but i could never get my hands on. fate had placed all three books oh so conveniently, for me to just enter, pick up and take to the cashier. the euphoria of carrying those books in my hand luggage (i had been pretty much book deprived for a year) made leaving my parents, hk and friends a tiny bit easier.

when i put away faulks’ novel last night and took out mitchell’s, a little of that euphoria came out with it. it increased this morning as i looked through my little notebook of books and authors and updated it. and it increased further as the internet told me that new books were out by beloved authors--so i have the following to look forward to:
-falling together by marisa de los santos
-started early, took my dog by kate atkinson
-hidden buddhas by liza dalby
-sacred games by vikram chandra

i also came across this wonderful post on picks for best literary fiction in 2010, and added these two to my list:
-the lotus eaters by tatjana soli
-one day by david nicholls

the post and comments were so effusive and booksy, and reminded me of how much i enjoy talking books! oh books.. (i’m off to book dreamland..)

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it is sad that i no longer have access to hk's awesome public libraries where i could IMMERSE myself in books. it is sad that i have no one to TALK books with anymore, no one to share a love for the written word. but i am SO glad that i still have books to be in love with, that i have the internet for sharing and connection purposes, and that H is slowwwly learning.. :P