Surprise Friday Book Bonanza … Thanks to Vinod ...

After a long long time Shruti had prepared her family’s patented aachar … this time in really large quantities … I had invited Vinod home for lunch sometime in April 2008 and this pickle was then made (in really large quantities) … Vinod liked it so much and Shruti had packed a bottle for him to take back … and remembering how much Vinod had liked this pickle, Shruti wanted to give Vinod some of this season’s pickle and we arranged to meet at the OU CCD …

We met and talked and talked for almost 2 hours … books, politics, Shruti’s research, his work, etc… Vinod seemed genuinely intrigued by the research work Shruti does and supervises … they talked for a long time about linguistics and applied linguistics and all that … I confined myself to safe subjects like politics, books, and British TV serials … and the best part was Vinod’s bag of gifts … he had bought for me a surprise bag of five books … imagine!!  I was so happy that I was speechless and just about mumbled a thanks … these are the books that Vinod gifted me …

Vinod told me that this book us a must-read for all book lovers and I should not miss reading this ... I started reading that night itself ... it is in the form of letters ... so far what I have read, it is wonderful ... 

Vinod had found this at Abids last Sunday and he said this was an extra copy ... I had read Chandler's The Big Sleep earlier ... Chandler created the famous detective Philip Marlowe and is one of the writers who is credited with founding the 'hard-boiled school of detective fiction' ... so, there we are ... 

A classic, which I shamefacedly admit, I haven't read ... when I saw this book, I thought, thank god ... somehow Vinod knew I hadn't read this book ... 

Honestly, I didn't know anything about this ... had to check online ... which said Daniel Silva is an American best-selling author of espionage and thriller novels ... book looks interesting and I look forward to reading this ... 

Vinod is the one who got me h/b-ooked to Elmore Leonard and now he gives me Touch ... touched, Vinod ... the cover reminds me of Durer's 'Praying Hands' ... 

Unexpected...surprised...and very very thankful...these will keep me booked for a long time... (I didn't miss going to Abids today...!!)