Copies of Chetan Bhagat’s latest release at a bookstore in Bistupur. Picture by Bhola Prasad

Jamshedpur, June 1: Putting the notion that book reading is a dying hobby to rest, the latest tome penned by Chetan Bhagat has been flying off the shelves of bookstores in Jamshedpur.

Feedback from leading bookshops in Jamshedpur revealed that all copies of his latest release, The Three Mistakes of My Life, have been sold out in no time. Having placed fresh orders, the shops are waiting for their stocks to be replenished at the earliest.

In all, 325 books had arrived in the first lot at Wasava Singh’s in Kamani Centre, Bistupur, on May 20. But a mere five copies remained on Sunday evening.

While Agarwal Book Store, also in Bistupur, sold out their entire first consignment of 200 copies. While the former has placed a fresh order of 150 books, the latter is bringing in around 100 books to their shop by Wednesday.

“We have sold out the entire lot of books. Keeping in mind the rise in the number of queries, we have ordered fresh stock that is expected to arrive by Wednesday,” said Bimal Agarwal, the proprietor of Agarwal Book Store.

The storyline of the latest Chetan Bhagat tome, reasonably priced at Rs 95, is based on a young boy, Govind, who dreams of owning a business someday. To accommodate his friends’ passion, they open a cricket shop.

However, nothing comes easy in the city full of turbulence and they realise their goals the hard way and endure a lot of hardship to get where they all belong.

“Youngsters relate to this book, the storyline of which is all about realising one’s dreams despite hardships and restrictions that reigns one’s life often,” said Mukhtyar Singh, a partner of Wasava Singh’s.

The books being sold like hot cakes could also be attributed to the fact that youngsters are at present having their summer vacation.

“The popularity of the book has zoomed through word of mouth publicity, giving a boost to its sales,” added Singh.

Bhagat, a former student of Army Public School in Delhi, went to Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi, based on the experiences of which he penned his first bestseller Five Point Someone, released in 2004.

The story revolves around the lives of three students of IIT-Delhi and their ways of dealing with the heavy workload. A movie based on this story with Aamir Khan in the lead role is currently on the floors.

His second book, One Night @ the Call Centre, perhaps, the more popular one, released in 2005 takes a close look into the lives of five people working at a call centre and the story of one night, which changes their lives forever. Back in Jamshedpur, the popularity of the author has gone up with every single publication.

“The first book and even the second had seen a gradual increase in the sale of books, but this one has surpassed our expectations. Orders were placed much in advance,” added Singh.

Released on May 8 in Mumbai, the book reached the shelves of bookstores in Jamshedpur on May 20 and has won huge popularity ever since. “It is on the verge of being declared a bestseller,” said Agarwal.