Mumbai: It's books, coffee and conversation at The Bookcaine Meet

Share passages from your favourite book or get recommendations at a session that brings bibliophiles together

A Boockcaine session at a Bandra cafe

Ever felt that you have chanced upon a book so absorbing that it deserves to be shared with others? Or that you could do with some recommendations for your reading list?

This Saturday is when you could do either or both at The Bookcaine Meet. The brainchild of friends and bibliophiles Preeti Ayyathurai, Amrita Panja and Ridhima Samtani, the initiative is a platform where book lovers can engage in free-flowing conversation about their favourite books, authors and literary characters, and also interact with upcoming writers.

Started earlier this year, the monthly sessions would take place at Ayyathurai's residence, but as the number of participants increased, the trio decided to host them in quaint cafés across the city. "We are all from diverse professions, but the one thing that brought us together was our love for books, and the feeling that the culture of reading is not as popular any longer," says Ayyathurai, adding, "For someone who wants to pick up the reading habit or be consistent with it, the one hurdle they face is figuring out which book to pick. If a title comes as a recommendation, it usually works as a good initiation."

A typical session involves each participant bringing along a book from which they read out passages or discuss the content and context, which helps others familiarise themselves with the book. The platform also encourages book exchanges. While the event is free and open to all, it is a buy-your-own-beverage affair. This particular meet-up will host Mumbai-based short-story writer Smita Bhattacharya, whose book He Knew a Firefly was a Next Generation Indie Book Award finalist. Her upcoming work, Dead to Them, is a psychological suspense thriller based in the city, and is expected to be out in September.

On September 2, 5 pm to 8 pm
At Aleph - The Divine Space, 7-28/29 Janki Kutir Welfare Association, above Maya, Juhu.
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