It’s day two of A to Z challenge and alphabet of the day is B. There is no chance of me choosing anything but books for this letter. If you can’t find me working or sleeping, I must be engrossed in a book.I think it was summer vacation, and I was just browsing through the cupboard full of books. My granny got a huge collection of Marathi books. There were books with many fascinating covers, but one caught my eye. It had one unusual leather jacketing. Brownish yellow, hard bound. The name was not inscribed on the cover. And out of curiosity, I picked it up. It was the huge book, quite heavy for my little hands. Must be around 1000 pages. I sat in front of that open cover and opened the book. It was ‘श्रीमान योगी’ by Ranjeet Desai. It’s biographical novel about Chatrapati Shivaji. As I dived in the book then and there, I couldn’t control myself and kept at it. Even mom’s lunch calls were bouncing off my ears. I think I managed to finish it within 3 days.

After Ranjeet Desai, a list of favorite authors kept increasing. P. L. Deshpande, V. P. Kale, Vyankatesh Madgulkar, Shanta Shelke are all time favorite Marathi authors. I can read their work anytime and many times. I am so convinced that many of the stories by P. L. are now stored in my DNA.

English literature came in my reading list with a gift of ‘Wise and Otherwise’ by Sudha Murthy in my second year of graduation. Soon I have finished all of her books which were published by then. I know, I have joined the party of English literature very late. Hey, it’s never late when it comes to books. My friends who were reading English literature for a long time often taunt me about reading some of the books which they have finished in their schools. I humbly and proudly return those with my long list of Marathi authors I have read. By now, my most enjoyed work is by Ruskin Bond, Agatha Christie, Sudha Murthy. Especially, they way Ruskin takes us on the tours of Dehra, or any other Himalayan town is fascinating.

I am constantly fascinated by books. Ok, ok, you can call me a bibliophile. I often visit bookstores, the smell of new books takes me to another level of joy. Those new pages feel amazing when you flip them. I couldn’t leave the store without buying at least one book. Maybe by the time I turn 40, I can start my own library. I have been writing about the books I liked From my bookshelf, and since January 2017, I am tracking my reading on Goodreads with 2017 Reading Challenge. Like English and Marathi, I would like to venture in Bengali and Kannada literature. Bengali and Kannada literature is very rich with thousands of books. I am really looking forward to learning those languages and take dive in those books. Would you guys like to join me in the amazing journey?

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I am participating in A to Z challenge with Blogchatter and this is my take on day 2 challenge. “B for Books”