People sift through 'mystery books' at a stall by Whispering Pages in Bengaluru.
Credit: Special Arrangement
Don’t judge a book by its cover — a mystery book initiative in town is taking the popular idiom to a new level.
The books on sale — all fiction — are wrapped in brown paper to hide details like their title, author and price. A piece of paper written or printed with four quotes from the book is pasted on top of the wrapped books. Buyers select the book solely based on the quotes they like. The books are second-hand and are sold for Rs 299 each.
Friends Himanshu Kumar and Jagadha S are behind this initiative called Whispering Pages. Himanshu shares how the idea hit him: “I was inspired by a similar initiative I came across at a pop-up store in Mumbai. I was taken by the surprise element. That one can form the picture of what a book could be by reading just a few quotes was exciting.”
The duo curates the quotes in such a way that they hint at the central idea of the story or highlight the dynamics between leading characters.
They have sold 150 “mystery books” at stalls they put up at performance venues, malls and restaurants, and via an e-commerce store on a food delivery app. The sale numbers may not be huge but Himanshu and Jagadha seem content as it is only a weekend project for them.
On the professional front, Himanshu co-runs a startup that makes essay checker tools for applicants of English proficiency tests. As for Jagadha, she is a category manager with a retail tech platform.
Since kicking off the initiative in July, new authors have approached them to stock their books — a therapist gave them five copies of a book she had authored on mental health. Few buyers have admitted that they would have never picked the books they bought if not for the secrecy around them. “Some bookworms find it amusing when they guess the book’s name from the quotes,” Himanshu shares.
Look up @whisperingpages on Instagram for upcoming events