I’ve written extensively about buying books in my various pieces. I’m absolutely passionate about buying books. The stacks have spilled beyond the shelves and into the room, there’s no space left for new books at home, yet I keep buying them, can’t stop buying them. My collection has nearly seven thousand books, six thousand of which I’ve kept at my home in Chittagong. The rest I carry around with me. My capacity for hauling books is limitless. Government employees are a nomadic tribe. There’s nothing to be done about it.
The only sorrow is that the books don’t get read. If I read books, I can’t write, can’t watch movies. Writing, especially, takes so much time. Juggling office work alongside writing often requires considerable effort. As a result, the books just keep accumulating. They don’t get read, but having books within arm’s reach feels good, gives me courage.
I’ve gathered some of my old writings about buying and reading books to put together this note. Perhaps it will be useful to many others as well.