Category: Books I Have Known

As I have said, I am a slow reader. So, what do I pick? A 1000+ page novel, with very small font. I pick Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. This novel was mentioned in one of the travel stories that I had been reading, along with On the Road by John Kerouac, Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck, and Atlas Shrugged. Atlas Shrugged is broken into three parts, each part has ten chapter. I set my self a goal to read one chapter a night.

It didn’t take long to get my attention, the various characters were defined quickly, and grew as the story unfolded. A few others entered along the way, each adding a new twist.

From a conservative’s view, this can be defined as showing the downfall of a socialist society. How give a little “for the sake of society” falls apart when there is nothing left to give. Not only is industry and businesses expected to take care of everyone else, but those who invent are expected to give their thoughts to society.

The premise is that the “best and the brightest” are slowing vanishing. Each leaving a slice of the economy with a void. The people are leaving due to governmental restrictions, taxes, and “unification” plans for each industry. The unification plans require that each business in that particular sector deposit all their income into a pool; then at the end, the pool is distributed by “need,” not by the recipient’s input or value.

It shows that those who do less, receive more. Those that produce more, are expected to give more and support those who don’t produce. The government keeps expanding and trying to solve the implosion of the economy by adding more restrictions.

We also see how the generations that follow the founder of a business do not tend to love the business, but want to “give back” to society, many times until the business is no longer viable and closes. Those that have been living off the business’s generosity are abandoned by the “enlightened” once the money runs out.

When people start to realize that the governmental restrictions and taxes have become the problem, the government relies on violence to enforce “voluntary” compliance. Even to the point of self destruction.

The novel was written in the 1950’s. While sitting at home during the COVID19 “lockdown,” I see similarities between the setting in the story and current society. The focus seems to be people caring about themselves, whether people want everyone to stay at home, or people want the economy to be reopened. Trying to find a happy medium requires common sense and common courtesy, neither of which is very common.

The central business in the novel is the railroad. How when steel become hard to get, rails are hard to maintain. when businesses fail, rail lines have to change or they will fail. When new innovations give someone a strategic advantage, competitors seek government assistance to “even the playing field,” for society’s sake.

The main character is Dagny Taggert. The underlying start is John Galt. He isn’t even introduced or met until Part three, though he is mentioned through the entire novel.

If you are a conservative, I think you will like this novel. It is long, but worth it. If you feel that society should be the focus and carry for the fellow man should be everyone’s primary purpose in life, I think you will be disappointed.

Who is John Galt? Read Atlas Shrugged.

I know that John Steinbeck is a great author, he wrote classic novels. I have only read one, The Grapes of Wrath. I have thought about reading some of his others, specifically Of Mice and Men, but I have never gotten around to it.

While reading the Higdon Chronicles, he mentioned a few books that inspired him. One of them was Travels with Charley. When I finished Jack Kerouac’s On the Road, I decided to take a look a Steinbeck’s travel book.

Unlike Steinbeck’s classics, Travels With Charley is a documentary of his search for America. This was written in the early 1960s, before the interstate system was as prominent as it is today. He spent some time on the interstate and turnpikes, but most of his travel was along what is now considered back roads.

He starts with having a trusty stead, Rocinante, named for Don Quixote’s horse. He had ordered a pick-up truck which he had converted into a camper. He tells of his preparations and goal for the trip.

I liked his interactions with people along his path, and his stories of the areas. There are times I feel that I am riding with him, and I can see myself in some of the places. This makes me want to be out riding even more. He travels from the east coast to Salinas, CA, then back. Once he gets to Salinas, he shares that “you can’t go home again.” He tells of his home town and friends and family still there.

He leaves California and makes his way to visit friends in Texas for Thanksgiving. He has now realized that people are not what they always seem. He makes his way to New Orleans during some racial tensions. He tells of parking Rocinante a few miles from where there has been a protest outside a school where a protest, the Cheerleaders, was being held daily to show disagreement with racial integration.

Once he leaves New Orleans, the last chapter is an editorial on racial discrimination in the South. He then takes a direct trip back to New York City and his home. He briefly mentions two hitch-hikers who he picks up, one extremely prejudiced who is dropped off at the side of the road, and the other a young black man on his way back to college.

Without the closing editorial, I enjoyed the book. His own prejudices were expected, but I think he went a little too far. He seemed to just change when he made the turn into New York City.

I will now give Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand an attempt.

Gary

Between library used bookstores and Thriftbooks, I have amassed an even larger collection of reading material. If I don’t hurry up, I will get even more behinder (it’s not a real word, but it sounds about right) in my reading.

So what have I picked up? There’s the cookbooks, of course, especially the Southern Junior League ones and the local/regional (Florence or Alabama) recipe collections. Then there are the foodie travelogues from Lonely Planet. The old Mary Stewart gothic novels from the 60s and 70s. Jean Plaidy (otherwise known as Victorial Holt) wrote books about the Plantagenets, my favorite English royal family. Maeve Binchy. Anne Rivers Siddons. Dorothea Benton Frank, Mary Kay Andrews, Mary Alice Monroe, Ann B. Ross, and a few others writing Southern women’s fiction (the ones that are both funny and sad at the same time). I also started reading Elin Hilderbrand and Luanne Rice, to give the Yankees and everyone else equal time.

Foodie- and craft-themed mysteries (Diane Mott Davidson, Maggie Sefton, Monica Ferris, Jessica Beck, to name a few). Daphne du Maurier, Darynda Jones, Pat Conroy, Patrick Taylor–talk about a mixed batch.

And then I started the Guideposts/Christian mystery series. I also added religious books (Daily Guideposts, devotionals, prayer books) and mental wellness/meditation and exercise books. My reading lists are pretty much eclectic, to say the least. I even included knitting how-to and pattern books.

So where am I right now? I’ve got three waiting for me…when those are done, I’ll go look at the piles, flip a coin, and go from there. In the meantime, let’s go see what Thriftbooks has…

I started reading Neil Peart’s Ghost Rider right after I retired. It help me get out of a “funk.” I read several of his later books and got motivated to ride with a purpose, seeing America! This led me to join the Tour of Honor in 2018, which in turn got me even more interested in seeing America on two wheels.

I read a few articles in the motorcycle magazines which in turn led me to Robert Higdon and The Higdon Chronicles (Volumes 1 and 2). Reading these two books, he referenced three other books, John Steinbeck’s Travels With Charley, Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged, and Jack Kerouac’s On the Road. I started reading On the Road a few months ago. I just couldn’t get “into” it.

So, as you can see, even without a quarantine, I have a bad case of wanderlust. I spent six months grounded due to broken bones (which led to surgery) in my foot. Reading motorcycle travel books kept me motivated during the time with crutches. I finally get the doctor’s release and I am ready to start riding. Now COVID19 has me grounded.

I am not one who reads a lot of books for leisure, and even fewer of the “classics.” So, I remember The Higdon Chronicles and turn to his recommendations. I start with On the Road by Jack Kerouac. Took a week for the first 5 chapters. It really took me a while to get excited to read it. But once I did, only 2 days to finish the rest of it. Now I really want to get out on the road even more!

The setting is the late 1940’s. I think the reason it took me a while to get excited is that I knew it was fiction. Why read a travel book that is fiction. Once I tried to ignore that it was fiction and started to read it as a book about travel experiences, it was easier to read.

The traveling back and forth across the country from New York, Denver, California, then back to New York to be with friends set the reason for the travels. The experiences kept me following on the repeat trips.

I wonder if I am Dean with the dreams and spur of the moment reactions to do something. Hanging on to the past, but wanting new adventures. Or am I Sal? Who travels to explore while helping his friends, knowing what he wants and delays until his friends are set. He follows along with Dean, but Dean quickly abandons Sal when times get too tough. Yet Sal always opens his heart back to Dean.

The story ends rather abruptly. Almost as if I expected a “to be continued…” notice on the last page. But there wasn’t. You are left with questions, and only the reader can determine the answers within themselves.

So, how do I find my answers? I guess I need to get on the road myself.

But, until COVID19 releases me from house arrest, I will have to occupy my wanderlust through the writings of others. Maybe Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand should keep me occupied.

I remember 11th grade English. I am both thankful and remorseful that Ms Sykes did not offer On the Road by Jack Kerouac as a reading option, who knows where I would be today. Whether my path would have been better or worse, I am glad to be where I am today.

I have learned in the last couple of days that I can’t read chick lit books anymore. For one, I am too old for that genre, IMHO. I can’t relate to it, let alone enjoy them just for the fun of it like I used to. I had a couple of books by Adele Parks in my TBR pile (actually, I have six or seven boxes of books to read and weed out for donation, post-kitchen renovation–another blog post altogether, for another day), so I decided to read them and get it over with. No truer words ever spoken.

I’m just not into those books now. Coming from one who would pretty much read nearly anything, that’s a pretty telling statement. I don’t even read series romances–haven’t picked up any Harlequin or Silhouette books in…the last 10 years? I looked at the ones I have saved in my bookcases, the only ones left are very specific books by certain authors. The only series romances of which I have nearly every book written by a specific author belong to Nora Roberts, Jayne Ann Krentz (in her various iterations), Betty Neels, Essie Summers, and Janet Daily (even those Harlequin Presents may be moving out of my collection within the next few months). Over the last ten years, I have weeded out series romance novels that were in the one-and-done category, leaving only the ones that were my really, truly absolute favorites.

So what am I reading now?

Foodie books, like “Best Food Writing xxxx” (where xxxx is a year); foodie fiction, Southern women’s fiction (Dorothea Benton Frank, for example), foodie-themed mysteries (Laura Childs’ Tea Shop series). Anything set during the time of Eleanor of Aquitaine (Sharon Kay Penman or Ellen Jones). Books featuring the Regency period (yes, I do love the Regency books that are no longer fashionable–not Regency historicals per se, but those written by Georgette Heyer, Elizabeth Mansfield et al). Pearl Buck, Amy Tan, and anything about the Imperial Dynasties in China, pre-The Last Emperor era. Jan Karon’s Mitford series. Frances Mayes (Tuscany) and Peter Mayle (Provence) and those who follow in their footsteps, including Marlena di Blasi.

I have to tackle the Outlander series, Edward Rutherford’s sagas on New York, Paris, London, and the Irish series. For mysteries, I also have the series from Carole Nelson Douglas’ Cat and M.C. Beaton’s Agatha Raisin. I have Anthony Trollope’s Palliser series and Lauren Willig’s Pink Carnation set.

And let’s not forget the cookbooks: Southern Living annual collections, the Time-Life Foods of the World series, the Lonely Planet’s country series. The books from the Southern Foodways Alliance and the Junior League cookbooks from the southern states. Jane and Michael Stern’s Americana books.

Knitting instruction/pattern books. Bibles and Bible studies. I have those too….

I keep a notebook of books to buy and read, either new or used (I am on my tenth notebook), and looking at the previous versions, I find an even more eclectic collection. R.F. Delderfield’s British dynasty series, Susan Howatch, Claire Rayner, Fanny Craddock, Belva Plain, Catherine Cookson. Talk about going back some.

The mind reels….

You can never have enough books, but you can have too many books. The problem is where to start reading and when to start culling. And when to stop being acquisitive. Or fussy. Sigh.

Library booksales are dangerous. Not only can you get the latest booksellers cheaply, but you can also find books that you read a long time ago as a young ‘un, and it’s since gone out of print, but someone actually had a copy in their possession and donated it. And you scored a big one by finding that book!

Hey, for $10 a bag, as many books as you can fit in it? Not bad. Now where to start reading….

Okay, I finally did it. I started reading the Harry Potter books. Only took me how many years? Stephanie tried to introduce me to the first book, but I just wasn’t ready then. So what changed my mind–and yes, I have seen bits and pieces of the various HP movies. So what did it?

Well…watching the “Deathly Hollows” movie with Gary one night last week, nearly staying up till midnight (and the alarm went off at 4:30 the next morning because we had to go to work) was the turning point. I had all the HP books on the floor near the recliner, and I found myself reading/flipping through the book trying to match the scene in the movie with the book. Damned if I wasn’t hooked.

The other night was the first of the HP movies on TV, and I sat there with the first book in hand, following along avidly, asking Gary questions. Yes, Stephanie, you’ll be proud of me, I didn’t have ADHD, nor did I get up every five minutes.

I was hooked. So today I started reading the second book. We’ll have to see how long it takes me to read all of them.

Nothing like a good mystery and a cup of tea on a cold Sunday afternoon. Where to start? Laura Childs’ tea shoppe mysteries? Or her latest Cackleberry Club, which I just picked up this week? Or do I round up all the Joanna Carl chocolate-themed books? Nancy Fairchild, Joanne Fluke? So many books, so little time.

I could also read some other books, the mysteries by Robert van Gulik or Dorothy Cannell. Or go 180 and pick up any sequels to Jane Austen’s P&P. Hm.

I could also finally finish the last in the Friday Night Knitting books and pick up the standalone “Comfort Food.” I also have a trio of James Villas’ books, not to mention the Harry Potter series, which keep staring me in the face whenever I go down to the basement.

I finished the last of Nora Roberts’ Boonsboro trilogy, read it in one day. I started on the metro on the commute in, kept going while waiting in Gary’s office before heading off to my own office, lunch-time reading, and then finishing up on the commute home. Wonderful Nora, as always. I just can’t quite get into reading her JD Robb books as fast.

Have five boxes to donate, and when I pass off those books, I need to go through the ones in the storage unit. Oh dear. Some have been read and re-read, like all the Nora Roberts. Amanda Quick. My head is spinning….

What is the fascination with foodie books? Is it the fact that I can dine vicariously through someone’s written word and thoughts? Or is it the fact that I am inspired to want to try something different, to explore a culinary world outside my own box? Or is it because I envy someone’s ability to express their feelings and memories through food exploration?

I started reading cookbooks at an early age (yes, just as I used to read the Encyclopedia Brittanica, but that’s another story altogether), and somehow I enjoyed the instructions portion more than the ingredient list. Then I progressed to the Provence and Tuscany books, fascinated with the fact that someone would leave their native home to go to a foreign country to explore a new life and a new cuisine. I discovered the Best Food Writing annual series, the Time Life Foods of the World books, and it’s been downhill ever since.

Even foodie fiction is not safe from my voracious feeding. Mysteries with a foodie tie (Laura Childs’ Tea Shop and the Cackleberry Club mysteries, Joanne Fluke’s bakery series). And there is more…..

MJ (posted under Gary’s login)