Books for Winter

The first thing I did after my exam ended yesterday was headed uphill to Randwick. My destination was a second-hand bookstore at Avoca Street, which has now officially become my favourite bookstore. I discovered this haven about a couple of months ago, and during that first visit I ended up buying Tariq Ramadan’s The Messenger despite the fact that I was broke, and my intention for going to Randwick had nothing to do with books. I encountered plenty of good, quality books back then, and it was enough to convince me that this must be one of the best second-hand bookstores on planet Earth. One thing though, they are a bit pricey for used books, but that is understandable given that they are of superior quality, almost like new. Newtown also has several similar bookstores, but what they lack are latest, crease-free books, two criteria that top my list when selecting books.

This time, still broke, I walked into the bookstore to the welcoming sight of Muhammad Yunus’ Creating World Without Poverty, a book that has just recently made it into my wish list having learnt that Nageb, my best friend is currently reading it. I made the usual practice of examining a few pages of the book, reading the comments on the back cover and taking a peek at the price tag (the most important thing) before deciding to put it back, a decision that was later proven to be a wise one. More on that later. I basically spent the next one hour or so glancing through the stacks of volumes arranged neatly on the cabinet in search of any title that I may be interested in. Nevertheless, I walked out of the store empty-handed, not that I did not find anything but more because I knew that there is someplace else I could head to if I were to look for similar stuffs without actually hurting my pocket.

I stopped by at the main library of the university on my way back, getting myself three books (one of them is Creating World Without Poverty that I contemplated on buying earlier) and headed home with a smile on my face. What a joy brought by this library. I just discovered recently that they have a huge range of collections that include those on my wish list, and from that point on I decided to stop buying books altogether, at least those that are crazily expensive, since I can easily get them there. Oh, did I tell you that I had already borrowed another three books before in the middle of the exams week?

I have been reading like there is no tomorrow in these past few weeks starting from the start of the study period to the point that I almost abandoned my preparation for exams. InsyaAllah while this gush is still on, I will try to continue reading, especially with winter break on the horizon. I am currently struggling with the last few chapters of Collapse, which I had abandoned since last year, and I expect to finish this book together with The Secret History of Al-Qaeda in the next few days. I have not decided yet which one to go with after this, but that should not be a difficult task given the stack of resources that I currently have with me. In the meantime, I hope you guys enjoy your holiday.