As a year of loss and privation comes to an end, we look back at books we have pinned our hopes on. Mumbai’s bookshop owners and reading room managers tell us about titles that helped them sail through the tough times
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Re-orienting with the environment
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Books titillate a reader’s tactile senses. Book havens shelter their restless minds. Kitab Khana, a home for books in Fort, reopened its doors in March this year, after being gutted by a fire. Owner Amrita Somaiya recounts, “We kept receiving positive messages throughout the period we were closed. Poet and critic Ranjit Hoskote joined us when we reopened. Writer and journalist Anil Dharker had phoned to say he will visit us but soon after, he passed away.
Iqbal Merchant
The warmth and support meant so much.” She adds that corporate houses bought many copies of The Psychology of Money (Morgan Housel) as gifts. “Given the recentness of topics such as the history of climate change and the migrant crises in India, Amitav Ghosh’s The Nutmeg’s Curse was doing well,” Somaiya maintains. A big chunk of readers also sought the graphic interpretation of Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari.
Can money buy certainty?
With the advent of the second wave and yet another year of staying indoors, parents wanted to keep children engaged. Trushant Tamgaonkar, executive director at Title Waves, says, “Kids’ books sold really well. Most guardians were unsure about the reopening of schools; they bought stacks of books that would last them a month or at least, a few weeks.”
Ahalya Naidu Momaya
Another September 2020 publication topped the charts for the Bandra bookstore with people realising the value of money. “The Psychology of Money has been in demand for some time. Customers still come looking for it, maybe because the pandemic has encouraged everyone to invest. James Clear’s book titled Atomic Habits also earned us steep sales. This year made us introspect and develop good habits for a wholesome life; as a result, books on personal development found a wide market,” Tamgaonkar shares.
Speak a new language
Bhaskar Devendra, owner of Cambridge Book House, tells us that people who wanted to travel or relocate to another country were buying books to crack the English language test called IELTS. “Our bookshop is an extension of the Cambridge institute, and our foreign language classes let us stay afloat in these times,” says Devendra.
Trushant Tamgaonkar
According to him, Covid-19 gave people a window to learn new skills. Many signed up for our French, German and Korean language sessions. “The classes were held virtually, but to keep practising, books on language like Netzwerk [Deutsch als Fremdsprache] and Protagonistas [Libro del alumno] were being bought in large numbers.
Sharing a good laugh
Trilogy, the curated bookstore and library off Carter Road, has recently started welcoming in-store browsers. But only fully vaccinated adult readers can come after fixing an appointment, informs Ahalya Naidu Momaya, co-founder of the library. She adds, “While this has been a satisfying year for non-fiction and translations, some readers have been particularly keen to read literature that delights.
Amrita Somaiya
They’re looking for books that incorporate witty wordplay or books about encounters with charming persons who make the times seem manageable.” Momaya mentions Alexander McCall Smith’s books, PG Wodehouse’s books, and the ever-relevant The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Adam Douglas as the most popular choices. “I can remember The Thursday Murder Club and The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman as sought-after titles, too,” she recalls.
Reading in the nineties
Second-hand bookshops that often double up as reading rooms have an old-world charm. Iqbal Merchant, owner at Mahim’s Victoria Library, is holding on to this allure from the past. He shares, “People bought bundles of books and kept saying they want to get back to reading now that they have the time. Ask him about titles that stole the show and he says, “Books by Lee Child found plenty of buyers. Many bought The Phoenix by Sidney Sheldon and Tilly Bagshawe. Indian writing in English was being preferred by young readers and so books such as Ashwin Sanghvi’s Keepers of the Kalachakra sold like hot cakes.” He hopes the year ahead will be better.
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