favorite books

Happy Birthday to the King of Horror!

Angela11 Comments

I wonder how many of us Mr. King has put on the path of reading, that we may otherwise had not found without his writing?

Were you reading Carrie, or It, or The Shining, when you knew if your parents had any idea of what was in that book, they would hit you upside the head with it?

Which book by Stephen King made you decide you absolutely had to be a writer?

And which book have you read over-and-again?

I’m going to spare you the biography on him, as I see there are a lot of posts in honor of Mr. King today. I will say I have read many of his books, but not all of them; yet.

My favorite:

From a Buick 8 Cover Image

I cannot explain what it is about this book that makes me love it so. It could be the actual story; it may be something that was going on in my life at the time I first read it that it gave me an escape from. There really is no other connection within the characters, plot, or even environment where it takes place that would connect with me. But I absolutely love this book the most!

The time Stephen King made me cry:

Bag of Bones cover image

Yes, this book made me physically, ugly-sob cry, and I would never have thought he could do that to me, and it came out of no where! Some of his best writing, in my humble opinion. I have not read this one in quite some time, so I am thinking a good reread over the  Thanksgiving holiday is due.

My Favorite Series:

Yes; I devoured this series by getting each book the day it was released, and having it read within 24 hours. I am currently experiencing extreme sadness that I have no access to the station showing the television show.

So Stephen King, I sincerely wish you the happiest 70th birthday, and cannot thank you enough for the countless hours of joy you have brought me for the past 33 years since I discovered your writing. 

Oh: and for scaring the shit out of me on many occasions where I sat up in bed for the night, with the lights on, and my tv playing loud so I couldn’t hear the noises inside my house. You are truly a master at your art, and for that, I am forever grateful!

 

The Books of my Childhood That I Could Not Get Enough Of! (Still Can’t)

Angela20 Comments

One of the joys of having children, or nieces and nephews, friends with kids, neighbors with kids, or just knowing young kids, is that you get to introduce them to the stories you loved when you were young. I may or may not have used my kids as an excuse to go back and read all of my favorites, over and again. There were numerous trips to the library, and I have bookshelves full of stories I can pick up whenever I want a quick read to take me back to my childhood.

These stories are timeless; at least to me. I wish I could remember the first book I ever read that put me on the path of loving books. It does not matter now, but I would love to read it again.

This is certainly not like any cover I had growing up!

The first series I recall reading was “The Boxcar Children“. Gertrude Chandler Warner wrote the first 19 stories in this series, but there are now over 130 titles! I am positive I have not read any of them written beyond Mrs. Warner’s stories, and am unsure at this point if I would want to go back and read further into the series when she did not write them. The series has its own website, and you can visit it here: http://www.boxcarchildren.com/content.cfm/boxcar-children-books

“Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators” by Robert Arthur is another series that I have read over-and-over again. I have not had the time to do it lately, but I would often go to the library and check out as many of these books as they would let me, and spend my weekend reading them for the umpteenth time!

From The Screaming Clock cover, courtesy of http://www.threeinvestigatorsbooks.com/
From The Screaming Clock cover, courtesy of http://www.threeinvestigatorsbooks.com/

There is a website dedicated to collectors and fans of these books, with a lot of other great information, including forums. If you enjoyed these books as well, be sure to visit the site here: http://www.threeinvestigatorsbooks.com/

If you loved The Three Investigators stories, you must have read “Encyclopedia Brown” as well. Donald J. Sobol had every young reader wanting to be the neighborhood detective. A fun series to read, for those of us who could just not figure out the solution, you could always find it in the back of the book. I know I had several “A-ha” moments reading these stories.

The covers on the books I read did not look like this!
The covers on the books I read did not look like this!

I have to admit that I never read the Narnia series of books by C.S. Lewis until I was an adult. I have no idea how that ever happened, but it is truly one of my favorite sets of books to read. I was fortunate enough to get to read Harry Potter right along with my girls, and J.K. Rowling is probably as responsible as I am for the fact that I have 4 daughters who truly love reading.

What books did you read as a child, and do you ever go back and read them now?