Hyderabad: Electronic readers and competition from other sources hasn’t killed the love of books yet. Hardbacks and paperbacks on a variety of subjects fill the stalls at the 31st Hyderabad National Book Fair at NTR stadium which began on Thursday.
Publishers and bookshops from across the country have set up stalls. Book lovers can browse through 331 stalls over the 10 days of the book fair which ends on January 28. Books in Telugu and English obviously dominate.
Mohammed Ali Basith, a bookseller from Hyderabad, says this is the first time he has a stall at the book fair. “We had our first sale at 2 pm and will stay open till 08:30, except for the weekend when we will begin at 12 and end at 9. We have had many curious visitors today who have appreciated the large collection of books that can be found.”
There are the popular authors — the light and breezy reads of authors Cecelia Ahern and Sophie Kinsella, the tear-jerkers by Jodi Picoult and Chitra Divakaruni, and the ubiquitous Chetan Bhagat, whose books are easily the most sold, say booksellers. Popular Telugu titles by Sri, Ravuri Bharadwaja, Gurram Jashuva, Rayaprolu Subba Rao, Suravaram Pratap Reddy and Pothana are much in evidence too.
A handful of stalls have Malayalam,Tamil, Kannada and other literature. Second hand books seem to be a hit this year as almost all stalls have a separate section for them. Says Vasanth Kumak, a bookseller from Vijayawada: “These books are sold at Rs 100-200 and there are many popular titles. No one minds reading second hand books and it is a hit every year.”
Book lover Neethu Biju, a student, visits the fair because she likes the sheer variety of books available. “The book fair has so many books for competitive exams and at the same time, it has something for a fiction lover as well. There are also many self help and nonfiction books. So it is really a book lover’s dream wrapped into one," she says.
Demonetisation hit the book fest hard in December 2016, and stall owners were unsure about cashless transactions this year. But PayTM boards were evident everywhere. Elocution and quiz competitions for children and a Bharatanatyam performance on the 26th by Subbulakshmi and Nideesh from Chennai are added attractions of the book fair this year.
