I love going to the library. I always have. I love the process of picking out books, the comfy chairs where I can sit and read comics and magazines. Saturday mornings at the library are one of the highlights of my week.
But lately, my love for the library has waned a little. The library I go to has a “children’s” section and a “young adult (read: teenager)” section. Having presumably outgrown the children’s section, I have moved on to the cozy little corner of the library that contains books about dragons, vampires, predictable teenage romances and. . . nothing else. I don’t mind the occasional romance, and I’m certainly not against fantasy, but when the entire library is filled with books that have titles like these:
- Mates, Dates and Sleepover Secrets
- Gossip Girl
- The Clique: Best Friends for Never
- Here, there be Dragons
- Operation Red Jericho
It’s tiresome. Oh there are certainly a few gems among the rubble, but every week it gets increasingly harder to find them. I can tell if they’re worth a try if their covers aren’t pink and don’t have a mystical creature on the cover.
I have ventured into the adult section of the library before, but too many of the books that I have found there are adulterated by salty language and things that would make my Mexican grandmother blush (and that’s a tricky feat) I sometimes wonder why some people enjoy those books, but there it is! I have asked my wise and well-read father for book suggestions countless times, but his idea of light reading is stories that involve lawyers, cowboys, or uncureable diseases. I’ve read every Agatha Christie that they have. I’ve ready every Arthur Conan Doyle that they have. I’ve read the Lord of the Rings at least five times. I need help! Please?
Yeah, you gotta get outta the kids section. And, all things printed for “young adults” is expressly intended to corrupt. If you want to end up as vacuus as Paris Hilton, read that garbage!
I started reading Louis Lamour when I was twelve. I love GOOD westerns. Maybe you’ve already read his books. Lamour’s light on plot, but he really gets you into the western geography. It is easy reading.
Also, I love spy novels by John Le Carre. My favorite character of his is George Smiley. Smiley wasn’t fully developed as a character until Tinker, Taylor, Soldier, Spy — but earlier works that involve him are well written and worth reading. Le Carre’s works are very cerebral and each time I read them I find something new to enjoy. Le Carre has a wonderful voice and accent, so his taped books (where he reads) are very good. His books which include George Smiley are:
– Call for the Dead (1961)
– The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1963) (Edgar Award 1965, Best Novel) — depressing but that is to point because so is espionage and so was the cold war.
– The Looking-Glass War (1965)
– Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (1974) — Beginning of the Karla trilogy.
– The Honourable Schoolboy (1977)
– Smiley’s People (1979)
You can check Le Carre out on Wikipedia.
Thanks for the help with this Eric. I actually read them a Louis L’Amour aloud several years back. You can’t beat the classics! 🙂 I never thought of Le Carre. She might really like them a lot. Should she start with Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy? She has been reading Father Brown here lately, but she is kind of running out of stuff I have been able to think of so anything anyone can think to recommend will be gratefully appreciated.
If she likes Agatha Christie, she’d probably like to start with Call for the Dead, which is really a murder mystery. Then skip to the Karla trilogy.
Some of his earlier works are hard to find in bookstores … but then again, you don’t live out in the boonies, either.
Btw, I don’t endorse Le Carre’s politics, but his writing is still good enough to stand alone.
LOL! These days, if you limit your reading to stuff that is not politically objectionable, it is not possible to find anything to read between 1970 and 1980. I DO think it is getting better now. Or maybe just my tastes are changing in my old age!
Going back to an earlier recommendation of our, we have really enjoyed the author Gene Stratton
Porter. We really enjoy these novels by her, A girl Of The Limberlost, and Freckles.
An adult mystery series I’ve enjoyed is by Jacqueline Winspear. Her main character is Maise
Dobbs, a nurse in WW1. I started reading this series when I read an interview with Laura Bush
and she said it was what she was reading. (Gasp, politics!) But I don’t think your Mexican G’ma
would object.
Have you read everything by Louisa May Alcott?
For adult lighthearted mysteries, I read JoAnn Fluke. She writes a culinary mystery series with
recipes included! She’s pretty clean (except for the murders which are bloody!!!!)
That’s all I can come up with right now…I’ll let you know if I come up with others!
Great list Audrey! I think I might try a bunch of those myself. We are definitely going to bug you when we need something like this.
Kelly/Ken, I’ll give a shameless plug for my newest website –
http://www.everygoodbook.com
Ken, you may have seen it already. It’s a conglomeration of all the recommended reading lists we’ve accumulated, with books tagged by historical period, reading level, type, etc. and ranked according to how many lists the book is on. A book needs at least 3 recs to make the list so all are consensus top-picks. The lists are from trusted homeschoolers, Christian curriculums, etc. so all the books are top-notch, and the highest ranked books are timeless classics.
Use it to find just what you want to read and to plan lessons, etc. The site is a couple months old and I am still working on it, so please send any suggestions.
Thanks! -Mark http://www.everygoodbook.com
Thanks for the pointer Mark. I think I must have been there about a month ago. We will go back there and check it out again. And please do not hesitate to give yourself shameless plugs. We love them!