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Excerpts from Ruskin's journal, spread over years and grouped by seasons of the year, "Landour days" compiles several random notes from the writer's diary. They capture Ruskin's musings, experiences, wishful thinking, and angst at certain contemporary events in Mussoorie such as the transformation of the scenic hill  station into a seedy town and the rapid rise of a concrete jungle. A pleasant week end reading, Landour days, is a must read for all Ruskin Bond fans.

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Ruskin Bond's memoir, Scenes from a writer's life focuses on the first twenty one years of his life. Ruskin writes about his family, friends, schools, books read during formative years, the loss of his father and the loneliness that followed, great bonds of friendships developed, life in England, and finally his return to Dehra. For fans of Ruskin Bond's writings, this autobiography lays out the experiences and thoughts that form the well spring of his creative abilities and his inimitable style.

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I just went back to an old favorite, whose story had almost faded from my memory. But I found Ruskin Bond's magic irremovable from the words of "The room on the roof." The story starts with the usual Bond style of expressing a scene so beautifully that the reader can visualize every detail, hear every sound, and be pulled into the act with the protagonist. I always find the simplicity with which Bond writes extremely refreshing.

The "Room on the roof" begins thus :
"The light spring rain rode on the wind, into the trees, down the road; it brought an exhilarating freshness to the air, a smell of earth, a scent of flowers; it brought a smile to the eyes of the boy on the road.

The long road wound round the hills, rose and fell and twisted down to Dehra; the road came from the mountains and passed through the jungle and valley and after passing through Dehra, ended somewhere in the bazaar. But just where it ended no one knew, for the bazaar was a baffling place, where roads were easily lost."