Books are a great escape, so how about some suggestions for some great, big, fat, books, pref. suitable for the whole family? Books you always wanted to read, or already finished and can recommend? Hey, you can have your own private bookclub at home!
I personally liked the books from The clan of the cave bear by Jane Auel (although recommended for children over 15, sorry!) Good for hours and hours of reading. Just read (again) Roots by Alex Haley My 10 year old son just read and loved The Warriors (it’s a whole series) by Molly Hunter For the Europeans (and Americans of course if you can find it in English): The Buddenbrooks by Thomas Mann
The whole Laura Ingalls series would be good, to show where we’ve come from (and maybe gone back to?)-the T.V.show sucked, for those who haven’t read the books now is a good chance. And then anything and everything by Isaac Asimov to show where we may, someday, be going. Check out Isaac Asimov’s non-fiction books too.
Don’t forget about computer books. I have a cd with over 3000 books. OK they are old classics, but that’s a lot of books. Yes, would would need a computer to read them but if you have power and a power backup, it is great. You can also get the kind that are read to you. I normally have one going when I am cooking or working in the greenhouse.
A lot of people sell them. here is one with >10,000 books for $30 http://tinyurl.com/mjn6z
You can also find a lot of interesting things for homeschooling.
The point is that you can get a lot of books for “cheap”
Also, call your local libray and ask when they have the next book sell. Most sell duplicates, old books and such for next to nothing. Around here you can get those Reader Digest volumes for 10 cents.
My kids have enjoyed being read to since they were babies. They are now 12 and 13 and now we take turns reading to each other. Our recent favorites are”Enders Game” and all its sequels. Holes,The Cay, The Hobbit, Harry Potter and around the world alone by Joshua Slocum
Dem,
It’s “book sale” and still wish you’d learn to spell.
The American University Women hold really wonderfull booksales in the larger communities on both coasts and in the heartland each spring.
Start here
I have a favorite book that I’ve read so many times I can’t tell you exactly how many. I read it 1st in my early 30′s. I read it again whenever I need to find strength to plod on or strength to tackle a big issue or strength to deal with one, or just because it’s my favorite book and allows me to escape for a bit (usually about 3 pages at a time in bed at night- if I make it that far!!). My daughter reads it also, it seems for the same reasons as once while in high school she told me she had often thought- what would Paks ( the heroine’s nic-name) do- in certain situations. So now there are pages that fall out if you don’t hold it just right and we’ve taped the cover and spine together so many times - we really need a new copy! It is named “ The Deed Of Paksenarrion” It is actually a compilation of 3 books- written by Elizabeth Moon. I think you could call it fantasy/Sci-Fi. It can usually be found in that section of book stores. It’s about 3 inches thick. 1000 pages give or take. Paks- is a commoner- is a sheepfarmers daughter with big dreams. She attains those dreams but only through very hard work and danger and several times paying a very dear price. She is very loyal, hardworking, and generous. The thing that I guess stands out the most to me- is how real the character is written. So real that I have even cried for her when she was brought to a very low point. I haven’t cried at a book since I read Big Red in middle school. Hubby read it once. Said he couldn’t read it again as it was too emotionally intense for him. (I think that’s hubby-speak for “ I almost cried for a made up character in a book and I can’t deal with that again”) But he did say he enjoyed it- it has enough battles and tactics and discussions of various weapons for guys to like it. I recommend it for maybe 13( parents call on the maturity factor) and up. It does have a few references to sex- but the gods have plans for Paks so it’s mainly her defence of not wanting to have sex. There is a brief refernce to her being raped at one point- but we’re not sure that’s really what happened- it never really says that and it’s easy to pass over. There are elves, gnomes, dwarves, wizards, mages, a few evil wizards,(who are disposed of- bad guys always lose)and some monsters. All in all a very descriptive journey through another world- not another planet I don’t think- where you get ahead by working hard and being honest and loyal to your loved ones- be they family or friends/comrads.
I’m also a fan of King Arthur tales and historical books about colonial America and the pioneers who settled the west. Also love Louis Lamore books.
melanie - talk about spelling - it is wonderful not wonderfull and book sales not booksales as you correct and then go one to misspell it latter.
Here it is “book sell”. It is an action that they do. They do a book sell. It is a book sale. I always thought it should be “conducting a book sell”, but that what it is titled here. Why, I don’t know.
The point is that we all make spelling mistakes - you need to lighten up or put in a spell check on the entry.
The bottom line is, if you want a lot of books cheap and are not in love with paper, then getting them on CD is great.
Anything Octavia Butler.
I love the doomer books like The Earth Abides (rampant disease) etc. Also, Altas Shrugged is excellent but will put kids to sleep. Not a gad idea. :-) I will probably read The Stand for the umpteenth time too. Oh, Alas Babylon (nuke war) is a great doomer book too. I love books about how people get by in a bad situation. Always good ideas there.
Thordawggy - have you read Lucifers Hammer? The Rift? And - Oh what was that one about an earth quake and then the Mississippi floods and pretty much the whole story is about a young white man (teen) and an older maybe 30′s 40′s black man floating down the river in search of the older man’s family and all their adventures? It’s the real rift that exists along the Missssippi and had to do with a huge earthquake back in the 1800s- Lewis and Clarkish time I think. Begins with an ‘M’ I think. Darn- tip of my tongue and I can’t get it!!!!!
Just bought “The Postman”. Haven’t started it. Might save it for later. I can re-read all my Stephen King and since I’m a writer too, I plan to work on my novel. Might have to do it in long hand if there is no computer.
I have lots and lots of legal pads. :)
Never had the chance to read the entire Bible. Think this might be first on my list. Would think it might be a good choice for a variety of reasons. I am not particularily religious, but think the Bible would have a lot of lessons on getting through “storms”….and the pandemic will be a whopper!
Haven’t read the bible but daughter has. She highly recommends it and we are not Christian. From what she has told me I think she would second Janet’s thought on lessons for getting through……………….. So it’s on my list of books to read.
(a list that gets longer with every suggestion I hear- thankful for the used book store down town!)
Cinda, yes! I had forgotten about those. I am going to go on Amazon and get all of them used, I hope. Typically, I have passed on those books to others and never gotten them back.
“Doomer” books! What a great name! Some of my faves: Year of Wonders (based on the true story of plague in Ayn IIRC) The Doomsday Book (One of the best, ever.) Lucifer’s Hammer (another vote for this one) The Stand (Anyone NOT read this one?) The Plague by Albert Camus On the Beach (nuclear war)
How about survival-type or pioneer books for the younger? “My Side of the Mountain” “Hachett” “Julie of the Wolves” “Island of the Blue Dolphins” captured by Indians stories, biographies of Lincoln, and of course the Laura Ingalls books — that’s all I can think of, now.
I would suggest the Lord of the Rings series as well as the Harry Potter series. Love them both but you have to like fantasy and Magic. JMHO, TIm
I never read The Postman, and only saw the last hour of the movie once which really ticked me off. I think I will add that to my Amazon used book order. There is a great ‘book’ by an on-line author called ‘Lights out’. I can’t remember why there were no utilities or whatever. I think it was an EMP attack or something. But, it is a great survivor book and it very long but in a good way. It involves every kind of prep stuff and even includes danger, romance, adventure etc. Even my husband loved it. You can google it, otherwise I would have to name another prep site that might not be approved of here ;-)
Mr. Poppers Penguins The BEST Kids book ever (hope they never get bird flu!)
The Great Books Foundation has reading lists for all ages:
http://www.greatbooks.org/typ/
DennisC - The CD site you provided at 19:54 is great! Thanks.
Agatha Christie mysteries are great wholesome who-dun-its. My youngest daughter, age 10, loves the A Series of Unfortunate Events books. Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys mysteries are still good, after all these years. We enjoy most of Robert Ludlums’ books and also, Clive Cussler (he wrote Sahara which was recently made into a movie) - these would be more for older teens and adults.
The book my husband read to me during labor- A Prayer For Owen Meaney, John Irving. For my kids, Junie B.Jones and the Chronicles of Narnia- C.S. Lewis., Junie is funny whether you’re 4 or 40 and C.S will keep you spell-bound book after book.
Scaredy Cat – at 20:28
For the young-
Janette Oke
Several pioneer series detailing strong families against dire circumstances and the challenges of prairie life. Very clean with clear cut characters.
NS1 - for the not so young too - my 75 year old mom loves the Janette Oke series of books.
Cinda- I liked Lucifers Hammer. However, I wouldn’t put that on my list for reading during a pandemic. His descriptions of the dehumanizing effects of the breakdown of society might be too much if we are actually in the middle of it, or even if you are sitting at home wondering what is going to happen. His descriptions of the decisions regarding asset allocation and just how many people you can support with limited resources might be interesting reading ahead of time for people prepping though. During a period of quarantine or isolation I think I’d prefer Nivens Integral Tree or Ringworld Series.
Classic stories/series for the little ones: Paddington Bear, Uncle Wiggily, Thorton Burgess’ Nature Stories, and Winnie The Pooh, of course. Also, for the whole family, The Golden Books Family Treasury of Poetry (first published in 1959 and is a must-have for each generation in my family).
For young readers, the Newbery Medal and Honors list for children’s literature from 1922-present:
NS1,
Elements of Style: best book on writing EVER!
In hopes we have electricity, would also recommend CD recording of A Child’s Christmas In Wales by Dylan Thomas. Also has 5 of his poems, including “Fern Hill” and “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night.” It is thrilling to hear Thomas read his own poems. “Fern Hill” always leaves me with a lump in my throat.
Excellent, Scaredy Cat! I love this thread. Thanks to BoonCT for starting it.
Collections of early English Poetry and Prose
William Blake Richard Lovelace John Donne
Read aloud, children love the meter.
Watching in Texas – at 23:37
Oke series always on sale at Half Price Books in the DFW metroplex. I’ve bought dozens as gifts there. Great stock of old and new.
Scaredy Cat – at 00:25
Imagine Strunk and White taught by Mrs. White? I never had another question about grammar after grade 8.
merck manual
“Imagine Strunk and White taught by Mrs. White? I never had another question about grammar after grade 8.”
NS1,
Did you take a class from Mrs. White? Was she a teacher? I’m sorry, but you lost me there.
I plan on reading “The Shining” to my family. My daughter’s only three, so I’ll probably have to do a puppet show of it for her.
Satago - at 09:41. You crack me up. Def. sick and wrong, but a good laugh this a.m. nonetheless.
Terry Pratchet”s discword series and Good Omens!!
Would love to find the time to go back and read everything Robert Heinlein wrote, and read it in the order he wrote it. <g>
The Anne of Green Gables books and any other books by L.M. Montgomery Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew series. Harry Potter series. Sherlock Holmes books. Anything by William Shakespeare
All of us book lovers - don’t forget to stock up on those little mini-book lights that can be used with one AA battery should the power be off. Would be a shame to have all of these wonderful books and no light to read by!
Lots of very innocent books - think Black Beauty or Little Women. The Little House on the Prairie books sound good (I never realized the programmes were based on books!?!!). Any technical books I may have stashed by then. Probably not disaster books - although I enjoy them now I think there’ll be enough gloom and doom to go around if that time comes!! Bible, Epictetus, Sophocles, Plato et. al. for a bit of grey matter work-out!!
I bought a World Book encyclopedia set. Useful for school reports, in any case, and helpful for any home schooling that must occur in the event of a pandemic. You can get decent deals on 2–3 year old, ex-library sets on ebay.
Jane Austin. Whenever I need comfort I read her books.
To find good children’s books to read to your kids, I recommend “The Read-Aloud Handbook” by Jim Trelease. It has sections on appropriate, quality, entertaining books for each age range, what makes a book a good “read-aloud” book vs. “read-to-yourself” and lots of other good info. I love looking through it and coming across an entry for a book I had read as a child and forgotten.
Here are some suggestions for adults, but generally okay for older kids too.
Thordawggy wrote: “I never read The Postman, and only saw the last hour of the movie once which really ticked me off.”
Believe me, while the book ain’t exactly a classic, it’s far superior to the movie!
I’m a Janeite. Once read where a group of Englsh soldiers in WW11 named their guns after her villains, (female) Mrs. Norris, Lady Catherine de Burgh. They got a great deal out of her books. I read so much that my husband used to tease me that it was time to move whenever I read everything in a local library. Which is why I belong to six libraries, any one of which is special in a different way. American libraries are wonderful places. One can get a liberal education without a degree. Or a senior can audit classes at a minimal fee at one of our community school of higher education. I have so much at home to read that I really don’t need anything else. I think chasing after what interests you and finding out everything is one of lifes great pleasures. But it has to interest you, not anyone else. Melanies suggestion of the larger sales is true. They hold one in a middle school auditorium in a town close to me. Extraordinary variety.
Anyone considered older sets of encyclopediae, circa 1950 and earlier. What a startlingly different point of view and much more supportive of strong families. These types of sets can often be had for under $100 in toto. Get a few divergent publishers and have the children do comparative studies on single topics.
Harvard Classics, if you can find a complete 1909 set for under $500.
Thordawggy and others, The earthquake in Missouri is in The Rift by Walter J Williams. It takes place in current day, but the sections begin with quotes from accounts of the earthquakes in 1811–12. S. M. Stirling’s Dies the Fire is about the sudden cessation of electricity and gunpowder functioning (and how important community is). Both detail what can happen when things fall apart.
For escape, I like Diana Gabaldon’s series about a nurse from 1945 who suddenly is in 1742, in Scotland, and has to adjust to a simpler but more treacherous time. Outlander is the first book. She covers military history and romance (some of which is for adults only). It’s very realistic, imo, and I’m enjoying the move to pre-Revolutionary War North Carolina, in the 5th book. I’m saving the 6th for now. <g>
Conrad Richter’s series, The Trees, The Grass, and The Town (also called The Awakening Land) is fascinating, especially the first book, about a family’s move from the settled land on the East coast to the wilderness (of Ohio, I think). The trees are so thick that it’s dark all day and scares the children as they walk with their cast iron pots and bags of flour, etc., to their new place. The tv movie was way too short, imo, and cut out too many details of pioneer life.
Slow Reader, Ender’s Game - one of the best books ever!!! Did you read the entire series and the parallel “Bean” series? Everyone should read these books and they’re loved by moms, dads, teenage boys, valley girls, grandmas. Orson Scott Card (who’s a Mormon by the way) is a genius. Don’t be put off by the first couple of chapters - get into the book. It’s about what it means to be human and it also will have eerie parallels to the bird flu, as it’s about species (including one very intelligent virus) trying to do in each other and the lengths that we’re willing to go to survive.
And Lily, yes to everything Jane Austin - just wish she had written more books. I adore her books and love the A&E Pride & Prejudice series with Colin Firth. My kids and I watch that series several times/year and never tire of it, and all the woman in the house from age 13 to 80, sigh. My husband just doesn’t get it.
I second Fla-Medic any and all of the works by Robert Heinlein he is a ribald,irreverent, tongue-in-cheek humanist sci-fi writer of the highest caliber,I wish I had known him. Edgar Rice Burroughs, Tarzan ,H.G.Wells…perhaps,Jules Vern.
LOL, NS1. I grew up with a set of the 1924 edition of Book of Knowledge. I read each volume cover to cover (explains a lot, eh?). A wonderful encyclopdia, filled with great stories and pictures. While much of the information today would be considered `wrong’, it would be like a walk back in time. Wish I still had it! ;)
For all you Jane Austen fans out there, I’d just like to point out that Patrick O’Brian was one of you, and the Aubrey/Maturin books were heavily influenced by her (especially starting with the second book, Post Captain).
Felicia: I looove Orson Scott Card too! If you like his books, you would probably like Octavia Butler’s books as well.
Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys series….great reading for the 8 and up set.
A Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton Porter is one of my all time favorites.
Fla-Medic - who’s Robert Heinlein?
Hoggie- Robert Heinlein started writing during the golden age of science fiction, the late 1930′s, and remained prolific up until his death in 1988.
He wrote both juvenile and adult science fiction. Both genres were excellent.
My first exposure to him was TUNNEL IN THE SKY, and for boys and girls of around the age of 10 and up, this is a perfect introduction to the grandmaster.
His adult science fiction classics are too numerous to fully mention, but his STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND is considered one of his best. I also highly recommend any of the Lazarous Long novels.
Others include THE PUPPET MASTERS, STARSHIP TROOPER, and THE MOON IS A HARSH MISTRESS.
Heinlein’s stories are invariably well written, filled with survival philosphy, and humor.
SuzyQ, I’ll definitely check out Octavia Butler. Have you read the Thomas Covenant, The Unbeliever series? - that’s a really good one too.
I suspect that this thread may be a little too sci fi/fantasy heavy for some, but I can’t help throwing David Eddings and Julian May in the ring for consideration. Julian May actually has connected series that traverse the divide between fantasy (magic, more dungeons and dragons style) and sci fi (futuristic, high-tech). Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time Series is excellent, as well - fantastic character development.
Gary Paulsen’s books for teens, starting with The Hatchet and its 2 alternate sequels, The River and The Winter (?), and others, tell of self-reliance and determination, and adolescent confusions. Eric Flint’s 1632, followed by 1633 by David Weber and Eric Flint, and 1634 by Flint and Andrew Dennis, and 2 books of short stories. All are fascinating descriptions of coming to terms with a drastic change in circumstances. It begins with a flash of light, and a chunk of West Virginia in present time being shifted back to 1632 in Germany (no explanation yet, but so much is going on, that doesn’t matter). The sequels were written by so many authors partly because the idea inspired much conversation on Baen Books website. My favorite short story involves kids’ plan to contribute by manufacturing sewing machines, with all the economic and engineering thinking involved. Electrical engineers might enjoy their ideas for radio communication. Island in the Sea of Time by S. M. Sterling has a similar shift, of Nantucket back 2 or 3 thousand years. (!) Stirling’s Dies the Fire is greatly detailed too, about a mystery event that changes the laws of physics so that electricity, gunpowder, and gasoline no longer work. Living history museums turn out to be crucial, as are members of the Society for Creative Anachronism.
For those in the UK, or northern Europe, there’s Johnny Jumbalaya’s ‘Really Wild Food Guide’, as well as Richard Mabey’s ‘Food For Free’. Both about finding and using wild foods.
Also the Plants For A Future database, which lists some 7300 edible, medicinal and useful plants, and what to do with them, along with where and how they grow (http://www.pfaf.org/) - I suppose that one should probably be printed off.
Tsk, posted this on the wrong thread. Meant to put it on the survival books thread…
change your reading habits. if you read primarily fiction,intersperse more non- fiction. don’t read history?start. curious about science,read something. read everything you should have in school. if it looks like you might be spending “a little time at home”,make your brain bigger.
Great Books of the Western World. Edited by Mortimer J. Adler. They used to cost about $1,000 for 70 books plus the lessons that go with them. Now you can pick them up at sales for $50 or so. This is 10 years reading and a complete liberal arts college education. Could probably get them on Ebay.
Dover Publication http://store.doverpublications.com/ Has books from crafts to physics for the uninitiated. Their books have stood the test of time, sometimes a100 years or more. Lots of fun.
Project Gutenberg http://www.gutenberg.org/ has over 17,000 free ebooks on all sorts of classic topics. Looks like I agree with InTheHills
Project Guttenberg has classic fiction and non-fiction.
I sell antiques at a co-op and I have been hoarding all the old cookbooks I come across at auction. These books are written for pre-industrial cooks with limited income and resources which is where we will be should avian flu strike. These books tell me what I can actually DO with forty pounds of cornmeal and beans. They also have suggestions for meals without certain ingredients, since things were not available 24/7 and out of season. Reading these books makes me realize that people may have been more capable in 1918 than we are today.
Costco has/had(?) this great collection of classic books simplified for readers about 2nd-5th grade. Classics like 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Little Women, Treasure Island, etc. My 9yo loves them. It was very reasonable, something like $45 for 30 books, all hardback. That’s less than $2/book - can’t beat that.
Seems like as good a time to write a book as to read one.
Hey Philly Mama, I just might happen to have one of those old cookbooks you speak of, AND I’m just outside of philadelphia too.
The Norton Anthologies of English Literature and American Literature are an undergrad education in literature. Can be had in used bookstores for under $5.
One of my continuing education projects has always been to buy an Intro to XX in psychology. One year it might be Industrial psychology, another perhaps social Psychology or Physiological. So I recommend that you pick up used Intro to xx books in your speciality and others. Long ago I learned that textbooks are excellent reviews of the literature and contain far more than most classroom lectures. They can be obtained at many garage sales. Just last night a friend gave me a vocational school woodworking book. For all the projects I do, I found lots of new and interesting stuff. The charts and graphs are especially useful.
a PDR might just be worthwhile reading.
Another great way to get up to date. I am on campus a lot and make severala trips a year to the college book store to see what other people are teaching and what they use. I pick up several great reviews of the literature this way. Intro to Virology anyone?
“The Complete Short Stories of Mark Twain”. IMHO he was better at short stories than novels. I pick this one up whenever laughter is in short supply. They are great read aloud.
For anyone with children ages 1st-4th grade or so, Costco and BJ’s sell a huge box of classics, simplified a bit for grade schoolers. It’s very reasonable - less than $50 for somthing like 35 hardback books. 10,000 Leagues Under The Sea, Little Women, etc. My 3rd grader loves them and my Kindergartener loves hearing them.
Venus on the Half Shell by Kilgore Trout. A truely unique idea on how we got here and the meaning of life.
Harvard Classics sure souinded like a good idea 30 years ago but they have mostly gathered dust since. Good time to start looking them over. Like many here, I tend to hoard books I ‘may’ read someday, especially if the price is right.
Question…back at the start of this thread it was talked of Books on CD. How does a reader work? I take it there is another program you install, but does it work with any CD or could it be used with the Gutenberg Project books?
Thanks
Hey Jane, I love the Diana Gabaldon books too. I’m saving the last book for a special occasion- like when I have a day or two with little to do (like that will ever happen:-) Sometimes a story is so good, so well-written you get wrapped up in it and find it hard to put down.
Anything by Stephen King is guaranteed to be great. I also love everything I’ve read by Charles de Lint and Guy Gavriel Kay.
There are some great middle school books that parents will enjoy as much as their kids, good books to read out loud to family members. Roll of Thunder Hear my Cry; The Sign of the Beaver; The Giver; Number the Stars; Bridge to Teribethia (great but has a sad part); I know why the Caged Bird Sings; The Cay; Anne Frank; Night (no younger than 7th grade for these last two) Charlotte’s Web; Far From the Bamboo Grove(excellent). Johnny Tremain, My Brother Sam is Dead; All Anne of Green Gables Books; Holes; Tuck Everlasting; The Count of Monte Cristo; Robin Hood; Treasure Island; Sophies World; Wind in the Willows(doesn’t get any better) All Harry Potter; Lord of the Rings; King Arthur…We read all these books as a family and I promise you they were some of the happiest moments of my life.
Women’s books: Memoirs of a Geisha; The Girl with a Pearl Earring, The Red Tent, all Rosamund Pilcher books for just pure comfort and a gentle place to retreat too; Elizabeth Berg; Anne Lamont; Rebecca; Wurthering Heights, Jayne Eyre; all Jane Austin, Dickins; Middlemarche George Elliot, in fact all the classics. Poetry - May Sarton; Shell Silverstein poems for kids.
Men & Women will love Pat Conroys’s Beach Music (all his books are great) Doris Kerns Goodwin’s books, Civil War books North & South, Gone With the Wind etc. also, biographies are always interesting of people you admire or don’t… but find interesting. Pablo Picasso was interesting read, I did not like him, but I really understood his genius. His muses always suffered, but his genius and creativity cannot be denied. Albert Einstein’s bio is very interesting… I’m sorry for going on and on, I get excited when I am talking about books!!
I forgot a truly fascinating book called The Fig Eater. Set in turn of the century Vienna, it is a murder mystery that you can’t really figure out in the first chapter! I am not really a mystery reader but this was exceptional. I learned so much about life then and in Austria, truly rich with information.
I just finished “Manhunt: The Twelve Day Chase For Lincoln’s Killer” by James L. Swanson. Wow! I could not put it down. Takes you right back to the days of Lincoln, imo our greatest president. Really sad to see that the forces that compelled John Wilkes Booth to murder this great man are still with us today (hate, bigotry, etc.). But truly a great read.
Desertstar- Did you read Doris Kearns Goodwin book about Lincoln? She loved him so much in the ten year writing that she” ached “ when they had to part. I heard an interview with Swanson and he was pretty impressive…can’t wait to read that one1
IMO, I too, think Lincoln was our greatest president…a man who conquered, or at least controlled, his darker side enough to be a great man.
Seacoast—haven’t read the Kearns Goodwin book, but I like her in general and I will check it out. I am looking for some good non-fiction to read right now so I appreciate the input. Don’t miss the Swanson book. I read it over Easter weekend, which is the weekend that the murder took place back in the 1860s—really interesting and well written, but so sad that his life was cut short by the coward Booth.
sorry, that was me above at 14:09.
Desertstar- have you read 1776 by David McCullogh? Another is The March by E. L. Doctorow
Haven’t read 1776, but I am interested in McCullough’s bios of Truman and Theodore Roosevelt. I think The March by Doctorow would be a good choice for me—I had forgotten about that one. I’m a fiction writer and when I am in the middle of a writing project I tend to only like to read non-fiction, but I will break my rule and read Doctorow anyway. So I thank you again for your ideas and I will head to Amazon this afternoon!
I have thought of another great book that can be read as a family. Lot of lessons and wisdon to be learned from Pearl Buck’s The Good Earth and another is Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. Great, Great books!
I have all of those famous Russian novels. It appears that it will take bird flu for me to finish The Brothers K and War and Peace.
Melanie - Anna Karenina! I don’t think that is spelled right, but I have that somewhere and that will make a great read, thanks for making me think of the Russians.
A Wrinkle in Time, A Wind in the Door-Madeleine L’Engle
Newberry award winners from MY childhood, still remember them and re-read recently. A magical intro to sci-fi for kids.
Heinlein’s been mentioned, so I recommend Isaac Asamov’s The Foundation Trilogy. Everything Asamov will keep you entertained, including his math books - good for high schoolers. Don’t forget textbooks for learning and a real set of encyclopedias. How to books. A Child’s Garden of Verses. The Mists of Avalon by Bradley. Brush up on books about your profession to keep your mind going in that direction. Learn about quantum physics or something else that seems impossible to learn. Get a telescope and and an astronomy book. Go to the library and look around for topics and authors that interest you. The Phophecies of Nostradamus (does Mabus mean May Birds in the US? just kidding). Be sure to get some books on grief counseling and books about your heros (mine is Eleanor Roosevelt) to keep you inspired.
My mom read the classics to us at the dinner table. It may be time to return to reading out loud. This is a great way to increase literacy.
Isaac Asimov. My bad. But I did want to mention that maybe horror books should be avoided. Horror movies too. I watched a very late night B movie, I can’t remember the title I kept dozing off and on, but people who got sick then turned into cannibals. Stuck in my mind. Best to read and watch upbeat stuff.
BooneCt-I loved reading all of Jane Auel’s Books and I intend to reread them again. My favorites books are the early people stories and Native-Americanstories.Adventure,romance,survival in the bush, culture clashes. Have you read any of Amanda Cockrell’s books eg. ‘The Deer Dancers (Daughter of the Sky)’,and ‘The Deer Dancers Book Two, Wind Caller’s Children’? An interesting thing to do is memorize a book, and then tell the story to others around a campfire or as a bedtime storytelling. This way you can edit out the censored parts and even children can enjoy a story, a clean version of a spicy story. I did a storytelling version of ‘Deer Dancers’ for teens and it was a tremendous success. I had a lot of fun doing it too. I renamed it ‘Coyote Man’. Another favorite writer, who some claim writes even better that Jane Auel, is Sue Harrison. Her books are about the first Eskimos. They are extremely exciting page-turners that will have you reading into the wee hours of the morning. Be prepared to have your hair stand on end! I am an early people’s book collector. I only buy used books and I have boxes full of them. Whenever I go on a holiday, I check out the used books stores and find more. It’s fun to hunt them down and bring them home.
Old thread - Closed to increase Forum speed.