Books I read and remember

I have always liked to read even back in grade school. I liked to read books, magazines and comics. One place I always loved to visit was a library. Way back in the 1950s, Arthur, Nebraska, had a library on the upper floor of an old building south of the Arthur gym. Wasn’t very big but it had a lot of books. Then the county built a county office building that included a fairly large library. Always fun looking at the books. It took a while to learn how to use the card index system to look up books. Now it’s all on the computer.

One set of books I loved to read were by Zane Grey. Loved some of the old classics — “Nevada” or “Riders of the Purple Sage”. Another set of books was the James Bond 007 books by Ian Fleming. Loved to read them and dream about being James Bond. He was kind of a hero of mine but nothing like the featured cowboy gunfighters in Zane Grey’s books. Later I fell in love with the Sackett novels of Louis L'Amour. Down through the years, I’ve ended up with most of the L’Amour books and the Zane Grey books. Bought over 90 of the Zane Grey hardbacks at a garage sale in Wilmore, Kentucky, for $20. I was in the right place at the right time. Had most of the old 007 books but loaned them out and never got them back. Shucks!

Still love to read, but it’s a whole lot harder reading now than 20 or 40 years ago. Simply can’t see as good, and my eyes get tired. Just finished a book about Phebe Palmer, a woman known for her revival teachings and preaching back in the 1800s. It was enjoyable. Print was decent-sized, and I could read it without any problems.

Down through the years I’ve read all kinds of garden books and magazines. One that I have used the most is a simple book entitled “Garden Primer” by Barbara Damrosch. When I was stuck and needed some advice I’d check out her writings. I think mine is a 1988 model. I have thought about writing a similar garden primer myself but simply haven’t gotten around to it. Several magazines are decent gardening magazines but most are for flowers and such. If I’m going to take the time to grow it I really want to eat it. About the only flower I’ve eaten are the honey suckle flower petals.

There are a few books I’ve gone back to and read and re-read. “The Pilgrim's Progress” is a 1678 Christian allegory written by John Bunyan. There is even a movie based on this novel. I’ve read different versions of it and enjoyed them all. Another book is “In His Steps” by Charles Monroe Sheldon. This little book was first published in 1896, and it’s reported to have sold more than 50 million copies. It’s a fairly easy read. “Shogun” is another novel that I’ve read and re-read. “Shogun” is a 1975 historical novel written by James Clavell and is set during the late Sengoku period in Japan. Loved to read it. I’ve got the book in a box somewhere. It has a lot of pages.

I’ve also read the Bible down through the years. First one I can remember was a small King James Bible the church in Arthur, Nebraska gave me. Still have it but the print is so small there is no way I can read it now. From there I went to a Thompson Chain Reference a friend Tom Cobb helped me buy. Read and studied from that Bible for years. Now I use a giant print New International Version of the Bible. Not a study bible just a plain NIV Bible with giant print. I also study the text of the Bible on some bible programs on the computer. Really enjoy them.

Find a good book. Shut off the TV and put your phone on sleep. Spend some time within the pages of a good book! You will look back and realize it was time well spent.