A couple of weeks ago, on an excursion to get some books on the secondhand market, we ended up with way more books than in the list we had in hand (as predictable of course). (Maybe the right term here is bargain books, those that are shop-worn or otherwise damaged or had too long a shelf-life and therefore offered by bookshops at considerably low prices.) Whichever it is, we are always happy to have more books for a lesser amount! While sometimes it is the simple attraction of a book by a known author, whose other titles we already have, sometimes the attraction for a particular book is a clearer print or bigger font-size (to compensate for diminishing eyesight), of a book we already possess.

Among the acquisitions this time, a book we got with no prior knowledge was This time of Dying by Reina James, published by Portobello Books in 2006. The attraction was the subject matter. Based in the 1918s, it was on the Spanish flu in the backdrop of World War 1. The beginning was chillingly similar to some of the early accounts of the COVID-19 pandemic. This story based on life a century ago, written through the eyes of an undertaker, was intriguing enough to warrant further inspection.

A Little Piece of Ground by Elizabeth Laird, (written with Sonia Nimr), was another attraction. First published in 2003, this book discusses life in Palestine as experienced by a young boy in Ramallah in the West Bank. Writer Laird takes from her experiences of being in the area and also collaborates with Palestinian author Nimr in creating this work. As the Israel war on Gaza rages, and given that this book has triggered calls for censorship, it becomes a must read.

The friend who first introduced A Little Piece of Ground said that the book she was now looking for was Tasting the Sky: A Palestinian Childhood by Ibtisam Barakat. I find it is published in 2016. Our next book hunting episode will involve the search for this.

Of course the books that were acquired that day (given in the image), had the much revered classics, or wonderful reads otherwise, that are always enjoyed. And if anyone would like to read any of the books from the pile given here, feel free to reach out.

However, we were also sidetracked with a separate borrowing of a Calvino novel, The Baron in the Trees (1957). Italo Calvino is not a easily-put-down-able writer, even when it is novel like If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler, where he talks more of the craft and its readers, than letting one simply ‘enjoy’ a novel in the traditional sense. The Baron was no exception.

So here was a man of the nobility living up in the trees, yes literally, and never once coming down again! But having a full life, even love lives, and becoming a learned and respected individual too, maintaining correspondence with significant intellectuals during his time (in the eighteenth century).

Further exploration brought to light that The Baron in the Trees (1957) was written as part of a trilogy called Our Ancestors. And the other two novels are The Cloven Viscount (1952) and The Nonexistent Knight (1959). More additions to the next book search!

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