Tag: A2Z2026

  • The comfort books I return to – As love, not escape

    The comfort books I return to – As love, not escape

    For as long as I can remember, I have been a reader. The switch that श्रीमान योगी flipped in me all those years ago is still firmly in the “on” position. However, saying that might be a little misleading; it makes it sound as though I’ve never experienced a reading slump. I want to dispel that notion right away. There have certainly been lulls. Times when half-read books gathered dust on the table. Once, the rough patch was so severe that I stopped reading entirely for a brief period.

    The reasons for these breaks; or reading slumps, as we call them; vary. Sometimes life simply gets in the way; other times, it’s the inability to find a book that matches my exact mood. It can feel surprisingly difficult to pick a book from the hundreds you own that will offer the precise comfort you need in that moment. That indecision breeds a slump, one that often lingers long after the initial situation has passed.

    Yet, inevitably, after a few days, I find myself wandering back to my bookshelf. Pulled in by familiar titles, just browsing the shelves begins to reignite the joy of reading. Scattered among those rows are a few specific books that act as the perfect antidote to slumpy days. They are well-loved, bearing the physical evidence of countless re-reads. The comfort of a familiar story, the memory of the happiness I felt during the first read, and the anticipation of experiencing that joy again make the process incredibly soothing. Even though there is no suspense building to a crescendo in the final chapter, these old stories warm my heart every single time. There are even a few books where, nowadays, I can just flip to a random page and dive right in.

    These books are incredibly dear to me, and naming just a few wouldn’t do justice to the rest. Importantly, they don’t act as an escape from my current feelings, nor do they provide a hiding place from my troubles. Instead, I find genuine comfort and grounding in those pages, and I know I will keep returning to them every time I find myself in a slump.

    This post is a part of Blogchatter A2Z Challenge 2026

    To read more about books, click here.

  • Buying Books I Don’t Read — Habit, Hope, or Self-Deception?

    Buying Books I Don’t Read — Habit, Hope, or Self-Deception?

    I won’t claim that I have been a bibliophile since my younger days, nor would I claim my home boasted a wall full of books stacked neatly on shelves. Although my reading journey started in high school, it was fueled by a steady supply from a local public library. I was perfectly happy with my small collection of storybooks, which consisted of six abridged Sherlock Holmes stories in Marathi and the first six books of the Faster Fene series by Bha. Ra. Bhagwat.

    But when I moved to Pune from my hometown, things changed. As I’ve mentioned in an earlier blog post, I started buying new books to read. Little did I know my collection would eventually grow to nearly 400 books over the years. And as I mentioned in my last post, that collection falls into three categories: Read, TBRs, and DNFs.

    While arranging my shelves recently, I realized that even the TBR pile has two sub-categories of its own; titles I will read sooner or later, and titles I am almost certain will remain on the TBR list forever. The first three parts of Ken Follett’s Kingsbridge series definitely belong in the latter category, if you ask me. I bought them enthusiastically on a whim because the blurbs were so compelling. But their voluminous size has deterred me from picking them up for years. This begs the question: why do I even buy a book if it’s going to end up on the TBR list forever?

    Habit, hope or self-deception?

    There’s neither a set timetable for buying new books, nor are there funds specifically allotted for this ever-growing collection. So, we can rule out the idea that buying books is just a mindless habit. The truth is, it’s incredibly hard for any book lover to walk out of a bookshop empty-handed. When I enter a bookstore, the vibrant displays, cozy nooks, and that inviting smell of printed paper pull me in. The clever arrangements entice me to pick up titles and read their blurbs. Sometimes, cleverly wrapped books set me up on a blind date with their stories. And as I browse, the snippets I read make me hopeful that this book will be worth the time. Before I know it, my mind is made up.

    I know the hope I feel while reading a blurb is genuine. The storyline feels enticing, intriguing, and highly readable. Even though it’s hard to leave a bookstore without buying anything, I have done it when I couldn’t find a blurb that truly intrigued me. If a book later turns out to be all bait and no substance, it goes straight into the DNF pile. But the act of buying the book in the first place is never a self-deception or a mere compulsion. I am always fueled by the hope that one day, I will pick up that one book that has been sitting on my shelf for years, and the story will finally do justice to the blurb that convinced me to take it home.

    This post is a part of Blogchatter A2Z Challenge 2026

    To read more about books, click here.

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