Non-Romance Genre Hooks by Joan Vincent

Rox and Frances have written about their favorite children’s books. I bought many of the Golden Books for my kids and my grandkids also read them. Popcorn sounds like my kind of book too.

Sadly I cannot recall any books being around when I was, say under the age of 10. That seems strange to me since my father valued reading highly and read vociferously. In fact we didn’t even have a library at our little four room school unless you consider the various reading series we went through during the school year. It wasn’t until 7th Grade that our principal checked out thirty books a month for each classroom that we really had a source for books. “In the olden days” as my kids were want to say when they were growing up hinting that I came grew up in a covered wagon, the only public library was downtown in Wichita. Trips to town were for tractor or equipment parts—not for books. I didn’t get to the public library until I was in high school and it was still considered a “special” –translate that as rare--trip.

But back to the 7-8th grade. I as horse crazy in those days so of course I devoured Anna Sewell’s Black Beauty and Walter Farley’s books:

  • The Black Stallion (1941)
  • The Black Stallion Returns (1945)
  • Son of the Black Stallion (1947)
  • The Island Stallion (1948)
  • The Black Stallion and Satan (1949)
  • The Black Stallion's Blood Bay Colt (1951)
  • The Island Stallion's Fury (1951)
  • The Black Stallion's Filly (1952)
  • The Black Stallion Revolts (1953)
  • The Black Stallion's Sulky Colt (1954)
  • The Island Stallion Races (1955)
  • The Black Stallion's Courage (1956)
  • The Black Stallion Mystery (1957)
  • The Horse-Tamer (1958)
  • Man o’ War
From there I went to Jim Kjelgaard’s dog books.
  • Big Red (1945)
  • Snow Dog (1948)
  • Kalak of the Ice (1949)
  • A Nose for Trouble (1949)
  • Irish Red, Son of Big Red (1951)
  • Fire-hunter (1951)
  • Trailing Trouble (1952)
  • Haunt Fox (1954)
  • Lion Hound (1955)
  • Desert Dog (1956)
  • Trading Jeff and his Dog (1956)

All of these books have the two things that I think hooked me as a child: adventure and mystery.

They continue to hook me as an adult as I tend to read mysteries of all sorts and time periods. I love Sherlock Holmes and can’t wait for the next Ann Perry Monk and Hester mystery. Elizabeth Peters Amelia Peabody set starting in 1920’s Egypt is a favorite. I enjoy Dianne Davidson Mott’s Goldy Catering mysteries and Elizabeth George’s Lynley series. These books all have disparate styles and settings but I like them all. Recently I bought a box of books to get one specific book and discovered a new mystery series-- Judith Van Gieson’s Claire Reyneir. This book was Vanishing Point. Now I can go find the other books—love it when I find a new writer to read!

Nothing like this blistering hot summer to curl up with the air conditioner and a good book. What are you reading?

3 comments:

Reese Mobley said...

I just finished Dixie Divas on my Kindle. It had some truly funny parts and just as many parts that I skimmed because they were boring.

I love a book that makes me laugh and cry. I can write the humor, now I'm working on writing the touching moments.

Penny Rader said...

I'm curious, Joan. You bought a box of books so you could get one specific book? Was it a special sale?

Nina Sipes said...

Joan, I love some of those 1920 Egyptian adventure stories. Everything so foreign, so ancient, so sure that the next turn of a shovel will find...treasure.