A Christmas surprise!

AFJ and I pursued our voluntary work the day before yesterday with great zest and enthusiasm. We showed up at the book store at around 11.30 am and headed straight to the second floor where the long rows of books had been stashed away. They were huge piles of books happily put away in the large space which offered no ventilation. So before we began the monstrous task of cataloguing the books, we made ourselves comfortable. We asked the shop assistant, a thin guy with a kindly face, who was at our beck and call, to switch on the two fans that were available on the floor. He also offered us a bottle of water, which we politely refused since we had brought our own personal water carriers.

And then the onerous task of categorising the books began its course. We managed to broadly categorise books into the following categories that included, Mystery, Thriller/Adventure, Fantasy, Self-Help, Fiction, Non-Fiction, Historical Fiction, Cat Series, Spirituality, American History, and Animals. We took an hour's break for lunch. This time we settled for Geetanjali, which offered us, both snacks and meals. The food was good and the price, reasonable. Then we headed back to the store and picked up from where we left.

At around 3.30pm-4.00pm, the assistant offered us coffee for which we were absolutely grateful. The work was tiring but we absolutely loved it. We pulled up cartons, labeled them and started arranging the books directly in the carton. In between all this, we also managed to pick up books that we wanted to hold on to. By 6.30pm, we had finished an entire row of books starting from the left- hand side upto the right-hand side.

Exhausted, AFJ and I finally packed up and announced our departure for the evening. We also added that we would like to reserve a couple of books for future purchase. But what happened next, completely took us both by surprise. The shop assitant told us that we could have the books for free since we had worked the entire day and had done a great job of managing the huge mismanaged book collection. Shamelessly, we jumped at the opportunity and picked up three books each. Here are the books that I picked up:

French Lessons- Adventures with Knife,Fork and Corkscrew: Peter Mayle

( A joyous exploration and celebration of the infinite gastronomical pleasures of France)

Uncle Boris in the Yukon and Other Shaggy Dog Stories: Daniel Pinkwater

(Daniel Pinkwater has been a animal trainer for over twenty years. He is regarded as the world's most influential writer for children and young adults. This particular book traces his family roots and the many pets that came along the way. In particular, the Malamutes and the Arctic wolves. The illustrations have been done by his wife, Jill Pinkwater.)

Hard Road- A Cat Marsala Mystery: Barbara D'Amato

(A murder mystery)

A season of wonderful surprises. This is one Christmas that I will never forget.