Bonnie’s post last week about favorite authors got me thinking.
My very first thought was about going to the big city
library with my siblings. Sometime after we’d mastered all those stories about
Dick, Jane, Sally, and Spot we were able to get our library card and could
check out any books we wanted to read.
The city library was a big building. I know it was two
stories and it might have been three. The check-out desk was easily seen from
the entrance and just to the side of the children’s section where all the bookcases
were half-height. It was in this lovely section that I was introduced to the
delights of Gertrude Warner (Boxcar Children) and Sydney Taylor (All-of-a-Kind-Family).
It may also be where I was introduced to The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew. I’m
sure there were many others but those were the ones I remember still.
Then in school, I was introduced to more delights. The
type of book I gravitated to was historical fiction. I particularly loved those
stories about famous people, especially Americans. Yes, I have a copy of Across
Four Aprils. I also used to have a copy of the three-book set on Abraham
Lincoln by Carl Sandburg (Yes, I know that was a biography). Little House on
the Prairie? Anne of Green Gables? I’ve read those too.
In school, I was also introduced to the delights of
Scholastic Books. I’m sure that’s where I got my copy (still have it) of
Pollyanna. It’s also how I got my first copies of Boxcar Children and All-of-a-Kind-Family.
I kept these and other favorites until a certain child, who shall remain nameless,
got ahold of them. (She has replaced some of them.) When my children started
getting forms to order Scholastic books, and I could afford a few, I’d get me
one or two. However, the last time I got a Scholastic Book they were no longer
doing the order forms, but book fairs in the schools. It was a book about the U.S.
presidents through Obama (shows how long ago that was). Maybe my grandkids will
invite me to one of theirs someday.
Then there are books I’ve been introduced to later in
life, like A Wrinkle in Time. I don’t remember when I first heard of Madeleine L’Engle,
but I know I have a copy of that book and would love to have others of her
work. I’ve also read Ray Bradbury and Orson Scott Card (some of those on
writing) and am actively searching for other sci-fi authors I would enjoy.
Then there’s fantasy. I have enjoyed books by Terry
Brooks and J.R.R. Tolkien. I was introduced to my first fantasy in sixth grade.
Someone gave Bonnie and me a boxed set of The Chronicles of Narnia. I dove
right in, and though she read them, she wasn’t as enthralled as I was. I ended
up with them and kept them until they disintegrated. I acquired another set. I
wore those out too. I think my above-mentioned child helped me wear out, or lose,
the third set. My husband got me a large bound copy of it. And…. I wore it out
too. I got my newest copy since the pandemic. Since I love sci-fi as well, I
also have a copy of C.S. Lewis’s sci-fi books (all three stories, bound in one book).
Then there are the books and authors I learned about because
of my insistence on reading the books my kids brought home from school. Either
from class reading assignments or because the teacher just gave a stack of them
to my daughter, for keeps, because he knew she loved to read. One of those
books was Alanna: The First Adventure. I’ve been hooked on Tamora Pierce’s
Tortal books ever since. In fact, I have
all the currently released Tortal books, all 19 of them.
I also like romances. I have a nice physical pile of
romances (most of those are the Love Inspired imprint). Not to mention at least
half my Kindle books are romances. The one romance author I have the most novels
by is Arelene James (she writes for Love Inspired).
Then there are some by friends of mine, mostly sci-fi
or fantasy. Such as Dragon Protocol by Ali Archer, and Noman’s Land by Mel
Newman. L.C. Ireland is a great writer too, though I have never met her. Bonnie
has though, L.C. is one of her husband’s nieces. I enjoy her books Fatal Heir and
Horrid. Not of a fantasy or sci-fi nature, and probably the best of this bunch,
is Gawain: A Novel of Arthurian Legend by my friend Paul McLerran.
As you can tell from this list, I’m eclectic in my
reading choices. After all, variety is the spice of life.
Smile. Make the world a better place.
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