Book lovers rub shoulders at the Annual Book fair in Madurai
“To acquire the habit of reading is to construct for yourself a refuge from almost all the miseries of life.”
— W. Somerset Maugham
Having attended Delhi and Kolkata book fairs in the past, I had been waiting for Madurai's annual date with books with equal enthusiasm. The experience of buying books in the open air, of being surrounded by book lovers, of drowning yourself in the world of new releases despite the cacophony around, the excitement of stocking up your personal library is unmatched! The memories of puddles of water on the fair grounds, public address systems blaring out names and numbers of stalls for easy identification, bamboo poles lying about, smell of dust and freshly-printed books.
Book fairs used to be the place where one loved to leaf through the lavish coffee table books, compilations of pictures from Life magazine or National Geographic's anniversary collection, various encyclopaedias or some rare editions that were beyond our budget. It was also the place you were sure of grabbing a copy of your favourite fiction and non-fiction, sought-after titles or limited edition books, classics and autobiographies and the ever-popular books on revolutions and leaders.
Full report here Hindu
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