Okay, a little bored over the summer and I thought I would strike up a new conversation about books. I went to the outer banks in April and found the coziest little book store. As I was shopping around I noticed the store sold one of my all time favorite books, Ramona. I grew up in the 80's so I read The Babysitter's Club, Ramona (all of them), The Boxcar Children, Nancy Drew, and Judy Blum. Those books and authors were great. So as I shopped around, I thought how nice it would be to have Beverly Cleary's collection so I could pass it down to my children one day whenever I have them. I thought it would be neat to see what some of your favorite books/authors were. My husband loved the Encyclopedia Brown books and I found out today they are not making them anymore. I also found out that Babysitter's Club is not longer in print, so ladies of my generation, do not get rid of them, they might be worth something one day.
i am, and have been for way too many years, addicted to Stephen King books - The Stand is still my favorite. Also, and i know this is silly, but when my son was young the Animorphs series was one of the ones we read together - just passed the whole collection down to my grandkids and they love it:-D
James Clavell for me Carried a well worn copy of Shogun in my rucksack into Grenada in '83, and Panama in '89. Probably used some precious sleep time for reading, but hey! that's how I relax.. Loved his Asian saga...
I'm hooked on Beverly Lewis books. I have read: The Covenant The Preacher's Daughter The Englisher (on it now) They are about Amish people and their lives.
Oh, the Ramona books! Just thinking of them now brings back such good memories. The Hardy Boys books were great too, imo better than Nancy Drew. Remember those choose your own adventure stories... turn to page 100 if you thought .... or page 102 if you thought... Great thread!!!!!!!! Amelia Bedilia
I think I noticed some of the Babysitter's Club books at jmelek's book sale, you might want to PM her and see if she still has a lot of books and is going to have another sale. I read a lot of nonfiction these days, but for fiction, one of my favorite authors is John Grisham. I think I read all the Doug Adams books, and of course J.R.R. Tolkein.
Well, I am also wondering if the popular books that are not in print anymore would be worth something one day. I would love to pass those childhood books down to my own children ( I do not have any now) neices, nephews. I really loved the Babysitter's Club, I have some movies they made and the original movie they made about them. When I was really little I loved the Berstein Bears...that was my fav group of books. I had this one book when I was 4 years old probably, my mom got it for me and read it to me a lot...she still remembers it, but it is called, Tales of Amanda the Pig. I still have this book and I shared it with my students in my public speaking class last year. We had a day where they could bring in the class, their favorite children's book and read it, they loved this exercise. Good memories with books and I am reading the Ramona books now to refresh my memory and I remember it like yesterday.
Ok so we must be around the same age, I use to love all of the books that you mentioned! Especially The Babysitters Club!! What about Sweet Valley High?? I think I started reading Fear Street books too about the same time those where all out.
Oh, and how could I forget to mention Margaret Maron! If you enjoy mystery stories with some local flavor, keep an eye out for her Deborah Knott series.
My favorites are Stephen King, Dean Koontz and darn it can't think of the other guys name - he wrote Coma. I am trying to read now Zodiac by Robert Graysmith.
OK, I have WAY too many favorites to list here, but I'll start with a few (in no particular order): Harper Lee (of course) James Fenimore Cooper Wilson Rawls Barbara Kingsolver John Grisham Janet Evanovich Jim Butcher Stephen King Dean Koontz J.K. Rowling C.S. Lewis J.R.R. Tolkien F. Scott Fitzgerald Tom Clancy Nelson DeMille That's enough for now... Boo
Favorite books as a youngster: Freddy the Pig series - Brooks - Sherlock Holmes had nothing on this "fearless" pig. Timeless classic that my daughter also fell in love with. The Golden Stallion series - Montgomery - adventures of a palomino horse that I dreamed of riding Doc Savage series - Bantam Books - paperback series - the "Man of Bronze" puts Indiana Jones to shame. Runaway Robot - Del Rey - best science fiction book I ever read Favorites as a young adult to now: Whatever book of the Bible I'm reading at the time - as fresh and revealing today as it was when I first started Any book from Lifeway Bookstore ANY short story by O. Henry - funniest story of all time, "The Ransom of Red Chief" Kent
Couldn't resist this thread. Just finished the seven book Myron Bolitar series by Harlan Coben. Loved it!! A thriller series about a sports agent. Finished all seven in about three weeks. Also, I've had this discussion with a couple other James Patterson fans, but has anyone noticed that he doesn't seem to write his own books anymore? Either he's getting old and senile, or he can't decide, even in the middle of a sentence, whether he's writing in past or present tense. It's definitely different than his older stuff, I just can't put my finger on it. Anyway, I don't read anything but thrillers. I like Patterson, Coben, Demille, Grisham, Stuart Woods, and James Grippando. Also, whoever mentioned Margaret Maron earlier, she's somehow related to me. I saw her at my grandmother's funeral in February and she told me that she was making my dad a character in her next book. That should be interesting. Denton
I can't resist a book thread either!! I loved the Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys books too- did anyone else read the Trixie Belden mystery series? Loved those as a kid. I even named my cat Trixie Belden. I read all of those biography books, can't remember the name of the series, but they were kind of yellow and tan-- I still love a good biography. The Little House books will always be among my favorites. I would finish that series and start right over again. I still have my tattered set so I bought my daughter her own set recently. I really read just about everything the little public library in my hometown had to offer! It's a small town so I was allowed to walk to the library by myself by probably around age 9. I spent so much time there. I was home recently and popped into the library just to relive old times and it smelled exactly the same!!
I agree...I think I've read everything Patterson ever wrote and loved his earlier works but not so much the newer stuff!
Janet Evanovich & G.A McKevett are both my new favorite summer author. They may be the same person as McKevett is a pen name. Love the Library!! Hello, FREE books! K
There are so many good kid's books. I liked Nancy Drew, Boxcar Children, a book called "The Island of the Blue Dolphin" and "The Witch of Blackbird Pond," the Hobbit trilogy. One of the best parts of having little kids is reading them again! The witches series by Anne Rice was great.
I have been a Dean Koontz fan for years, but had not read any of his in a long while. I have made up for it this summer -- read all three Odd Thomas books, One Door Away from Heaven, The Husband and The Taking over the past two months.
Books are great I love books and have been able to get back into reading in the last year or so pretty hot and heavy. I've been trying to concentrate on some of the stuff I perhaps was assigned in school but never actually read. One quick one that was a feverish read, Wuthering Heights. Its funny, classic literature actually turns out to be classic! Finished HP Book seven at 2:00 Monday morning. Loved the series!
