“‘Too few people seem to realize that books have feelings,’ wrote collector Eugene Field, who wrote The Love Affairs of a Bibliomaniac in 1896. ‘But if I know one thing better than another I know this, that my books know me and love me. When of a morning I awaken I cast my eyes about my room to see how fare my beloved treasures, and as I cry cheerily to them, “Good day to you, sweet friends!” how lovingly they beam upon me, and how glad they are that my repose has been unbroken’.”
That is one of my favorite passages from the entertaining book, The Man Who Loved Books Too Much: The True Story of a Thief, a Detective, and a World of Literary Obsession, written by Allison Hoover Bartlett. I read the book last year (review here) and enjoyed it immensely. In it you’ll find the story of man who truly did love books too much, but perhaps not in quite the same way that you or I do. In addition to being a compelling look into the life of a man who valued the book as an object to possess much higher than he did his freedom, The Man Who Loved Books Too Much introduces the reader to a host of used bookstores that I guarantee will make you want to immediately pack your bags and make travel plans.
The Man Who Loved Books Too Much is set to be released in trade paperback on October 5th and the author just sent an email graciously offering you a chance to win a free copy. I will be giving away two copies of this book, chosen randomly from those who wish to participate in the drawing. The deadline for entry is Saturday, October 2nd, 2010 11:59 p.m. CST.
All you need to do to qualify is to participate in the following way:
Though I doubt few of us would, or have, resorted to stealing copies of our most beloved books, we do have stories about those books and how we obtained them, discovered them, etc. Tell us your tale. It could be anything from some herculean task to track down a specific book or something as simple as a serendipitous moment when you stumbled across a book that was or became precious to you, or one that was gifted to you that means something special. I’m not particular, I just want you to share something about the experience of attaining a book that you love.
Best of luck to everyone, this is certainly a book worth reading.
Here is an example from my experience: For years I had been wanting to track down a book that was on my uncle’s science fiction bookshelf that I borrowed heavily from growing up. Over the years I’ve wanted to collect the various titles that I remember purely for nostalgia’s sake. I could remember the cover well and knew roughly what the title was, but wasn’t 100% sure and didn’t know the author. For years I had labored under the impression that this book was The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester and despite numerous bookstore searches and internet searches I could not find a version with the cover image I so clearly recalled.
In 2005 I was in Chicago with friends for a Neil Gaiman book signing and was in a used bookstore with a fabulous paperback science fiction collection. I once again was looking for this mysterious book and was up on a small step stool looking through the “B” section. As I came up empty looking at the Bester books, I happened to glance over to see the title The Stars, Like Dust by Isaac Asimov. Low and behold, there was the book I had been looking for all along, and in really good shape too. Needless to say I was very excited, and that bookstore visit was memorable, not just because I found the book, but also because I knocked over a few paperbacks, purely by accident, and had the crotchety store owner yell at me and essentially call me a clumsy idiot who didn’t know how to treat books. Which is laughable to anyone who knows me and knows how I baby even the most damaged books I come across.
I have since read the book, and while not impressed (even less so after reading several Asimov books that I love), I am still thrilled to have this book with its cover image that takes me back to my book-filled childhood.
Wow, that’s a great story, Carl. I’m thinking hard about what I might have, but nothing yet. It will be fascinating to read the contributions.
Nice story Carl.
I have never searched for a book like that, although I am on the lookout for a specific edition of Black Beauty [hbk, purple border, picture of a black horse on the cover 🙂 ] as it was the first book I ever bought (aged 6, I seem to recall) and I must have read it a hundred times 🙂 I do have a copy that is somewhat similar that I stumbled across in a 2nd hand shop, but not quite that edition.
Oh, but I did steal my favorite books, or perhaps borrowed without permission is the better description. I took them on the sly from my older brother’s room. When they went missing he knew where to find them and promptly took them back. The object of my thieving ways? The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. I put them on my wish list during a 9th grade gift exchange between some friends and received all four books. I’ve since bought new copies because I wore out the originals, but still save them for the cover art, the inscriptions inside, and the memories.
I won’t say that I had to search long and hard for it, nor did I knock over a display in my excitement, but a couple of years ago I received a book as a gift by a fiction author I’ve been reading for years–Elizabeth George. I was absolutely amazed to receive this title–still in hardcover–and I looked up in surprise and asked how anyone could have known that I wanted it. You and Mary looked at me like I was a complete idiot and reminded me that it had been on my Amazon wish list (duh).
Still, like the movies you’ve decided I absolutely must see, the books you’ve selected for me (and that I’d never heard of) have been treasures I wouldn’t have found otherwise.
My book is without a doubt Patrick Rothfuss’ The Name of the Wind. It had just came out a few weeks before I got married, but I had never heard of it. On our honeymoon in Asheville, in a downtown bookstore, I was browsing through new releases. I happened upon his book and thought it sounded interesting, but I couldn’t bring myself to spend $30 on an unheard of author’s debut. For some reason, though, the book would not leave my mind, and I found myself regretting my decision. I ultimately caved in and bought the book, relishing at how fresh Rothfuss was in the stagnating genre. I soon discovered his blog and considered myself one of his first fans. I emailed him, telling him how much I loved his work, and he actually responded. He blogged that he’d sign books if people mailed them along with something cool and unique. I mailed him my book, 1st ed. 1st printing, along with a quarter with a bullet hole I shot in it, and he signed and returned the book. Later on his blog he mentioned some of the cool things he’d got, and he mentioned the quarter.
I see Pat Rothfuss as a down-to-Earth author that cares more about his story and fans than he does about being a “known name.” I’ve recommended The Name of the Wind to everyone I know, and I’ve never had anyone disappointed in the read.
lol ^_^ I”m with Lori L.! Thieving from older brother! he also knew precisely where to go to get them back along with a righteous thump to the back of the head.
I actually had several books that i checked out of our library repeatedly as a child. And then later miraculously found them on the discard book shelf at the library and acquired them for a ¢.25 a pop. I don’t remember the author’s name but the title was “The Wahoo Bobcat” and it was set in depression era Florida swamp. Also “The White Stag” about Genghis Khan’s childhood…gorgeous art deco illustrations!
oh yeah, i opt out of the book giveaway, thanks, i’ve got it in hardback. Forgot to mention that previously.
Logan: What a memorable story. I love it when authors are willing to take the time to connect to their audience in that way, at least while they are in a position to be able to do so. I realize that the flip side of authors becoming more well known is that they don’t have the time to do all these things. And quite frankly, we want them to write, write, write! Still, it is great when a personal connection like that can be made.
Mosker: We definitely are not shy about foisting movies and books upon our friends, that is for sure. We appreciate you being a good sport…guinea pig…for those recommendations. Its about time we got together to force another movie on you!
Lori: Good books to steal! I think any book-loving judge would forgive you for sure. There are some books that I had when I was younger that I didn’t hold on to, and while I have since replaced them, I cannot help regretting the loss of those that I read for the first time.
Fence: I do so hope you find it. There is a certain thrill, of course, to be on the hunt for a specific book, but after a while the hunt needs to end in success! 🙂
Richard: It truly was one of those “angels singing” moments in my life. I had begun to think I just had an overactive imagination, so I was thrilled to discover the book actually existed, and quite relieved to have finally figured out which book it was.
sgist: Your story reminds me of a library “theft” of my own. Years ago in Tulsa my wife and I had went to a small cast performance of The Mystery of Irma Vep. It is a two act play, with cast members playing multiple roles in quick change fashion. It is a penny dreadful that I really enjoyed, and I checked out a copy of the play from the Tulsa Public Library and then promptly took it with me when I packed and moved to Kansas City, intending to send it right back. Years later I discovered it in a box and sent it back to the library. While on a trip to NYC I went into a store that sold plays and purchased that same copy for myself, a play that I occasionally re-read and in fact just brought upstairs this past weekend to use in my seasonal decorating.
What a great story, despite the cranky store owner. I had a similar, but less dramatic experience finding a L’Engle book that I read when I was young but couldn’t remember the title.
I now know it was The Young Unicorns. I have yet to reread it because I am afraid I will be disappointed.
Other than that, I recall being so desperate to get my hands on any books I could find when I was young that I would hide in the dusty shed out back and read my parents old college textbooks. World Religions was my favorite, and I remember passionately doing a sixth grade project on Ancient Religions. I still have the report! But not the textbook.
That must have been some whopping big fine the Tulsa library laid on you!
Hi Carl, I’ve been reading your blog lately (the RIP challenge caught my eye even though I didn’t join). I absolutely love the quote that you opened with and had to go back and read your first review. 🙂
Ooh I love the way you’re handling this giveaway! For my entry, I’m going to give the story of how I came across what became my favorite book. In January 2002, my husband got a gift certificate to B&N for his birthday. We had a date night and left our son at home with his grandma, and we went up to Madison, WI for their great B&N there. We went straight back to the used section, which is huge, and Jason started pulling different classics off the shelf. Once he’d filled up most of the card, he had about $3 left and none of the classics we found were that cheap. We were really, really poor and saving every penny then, so we started looking for a book that would fit within the $3 limit. We came across a copy of Possession by AS Byatt, which neither of us had heard of. It had a great cover and we read the back and decided that it would either be good or really, really bad. So we bought it, and a few months later I read it. I connected with that book so much! It’s been my favorite ever since.
Amanda: What a great story! And used books at the B&N? How awesome that would be. Must be a big store. I’ve read many good things about Possession and yet, as I sit here typing, I couldn’t tell you one thing about what the book is about. I’m going to have to look it up now. Aren’t gift certificates to bookstores the best? I love getting them as gifts.
Christina: It is a great book, you should check it out. Or put in an entry and maybe you’ll snag it for free!
Richard: They had no idea where I moved to anyway, so I might have some major fine on account there. Although I am pretty sure that the public library there was similar to ours in that you can only amass a certain fine amount. Here it is 5 cents per day up to a dollar.
Shelley: That is a true desperation for reading when you resort to old college textbooks! 🙂 I thankfully have not been that desperate for reading material in my own life.
One of my favorite books is Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass, and I was lucky enough to inherit a really old hardcover copy from my great-grandfather. Everyone in my family knows I’m an insane reader, so when my great-grandfather passed away I inherited all of his books. This one was so beautiful I’ve had it in a place of honor on my bookshelves ever since.
What a great giveaway!
Your story is fantastic. Memorable indeed; no way could you forget a cranky book store guy, and knocking over books while being excited at finally finding the book. Too bad that the book did not live up to the hunt.
While your book story was fascinating, I must admit what immediately stood out to me…You were able to see Neil Gaiman!!! Tell me, how was it? Was it just a signing with people being herded through the line, or did he talk at all?
There is nothing that I can say that could even compare to your story…not even close.
I am a terrible bore. Nothing fun comes to mind as far as book acquisitions are concerned. However, I do have a memory that is dear to my heart. My sister and I would watch movies together, late into the night. We would do this when I was a young Mom…only a few children…this means I really was young. Anyhow, she was not married, no children. She would stay overnight at my house, many times. I miss those days. Anyway, she introduced me to old movies…the black and white ones. And she also introduced me to Jane Eyre. We spent one night watching the A&E Jane Eyre movie, and we loved it. I do believe we watched it several times. That Christmas she gifted me with Jane Eyre…the book and the A&E movie. I treasure them. Although, the movie was in VHS so I replaced it with the DVD. The book, she wrote a message to me on the inside of the book. I picked it up to read in 2008…11 years after my sister’s introduction. I love the story, and I treasure the book she gave me. My 15-year old is currently reading the story, I hope she likes it.
It has been fun reading the other comments…very fun. I agree with you, gift cards to bookstores are the best present. Love it!
I actually have a gift card to Amazon just waiting for me to use it. The trouble is, I want to purchase the one book that I may not do otherwise…or have to wait on. Hmmm…. 😀
Here in the land of “everyone is broke” there is a dime a day, no limit on library fines. I read in the L.A. Times just a few months ago about someone who had nearly $3,000 in fines and the county was considering a lien on their home. I think finally they worked out a settlement and the person paid $1.500.
Can I comment without entering too, Carl? It sounds like a fascinating book, but I really must learn not to get too many before my TBR pile kills me. (I am going to try this whole acquisition banning thing until I find something that works. It’ll probably involve a cross-country move and a larger library, but hey. A girl can try.)
Notable book acquisition stories… I’m sure I’ve told you how I nagged at several of my friends to recommend me things when we were in a book store and I walked out with “Howl’s moving Castle” before. I like that story. But I shan’t give you the longer version. ^-~
I want to talk about translations. When I was a child, my parents subscribed to this series where you got a collection of short stories that also came with a tape and someone reading them. You know, to practice your reading and all that? We never got the whole set together, but some of my favourite stories are in there. I still have the books.
Years and years later, though, I stumbled across a copy of “The Lord of Rushie River” in the second-hand store. That story was one of my favourites in the anthologies aforementioned, but I’d never known there was an English version of it. Needless to say, the book’s come home with me.
It also led to scouring the anthologies for details. They weren’t so very good at the source indication, sadly, but it had me started on a search for some other English versions of my favourite stories. One of them is “Young Kate” by Eleanor Farjeon. It sounded close enough to the Dutch version I grew up with that I risked buying the anthology I found it in (“The Book Room”) and, lo!, it was the original version! I was thrilled.
I’ve also been trying to track down a story by Ruth Ainsworth, but that’s not going so well. She’s not as popular, it seems.
There’s one incident related to the anthologies that doesn’t involve acquiring books. One of the books has “Peter Pan” in it. Now, by the time I got the book, my idea of how the story went agreed more with the Disney interpretation. And so the story was odd and I usually skipped most of the chapters on rereads.
Years and years later when I read “Peter Pan” again for one of my university classes, I realised that, gosh, I knew this version. I’d read it before. I went back to my anthologies ASAP and, yes, I did find that it was a translation of the original tale more than a skillful adaptation!
I still search for something I cannot afford even if I lived two lifetimes! My love for The Dragonriders of Pern (first 3 books) has been told by me many times. I often wondered if they had ever come out in hardback, and discovered they had! So I search for them.. just to SEE them..and ohhh how I’d love to touch them and take a photo of them!! The closest I’ve gotten is they were listed in ebay once or twice for something like 1,500 or 2,000 dollars(hello?!!) But I have yet to see them with my own eyes … !
I don’t really have a story that relates to a specific book, but I’ll tell about one the best presents I ever received. I’m Polish and we celebrate name days as well as birthdays. I always like to do something nice to mark the day, but nothing big since where we live nobody celebrates name days anyway… A couple of years ago my partner and I were in a bookstore on my name day. I filled up my basket as usual and unexpectedly he bought me the whole lot. We go to the bookstore on my name day every year now! 😉
deslily – that Pern omnibus of the first 3 novels was published by the SF Book Club, by Doubleday. My copy only shows the copyright dates for the three novels, not for the book club edition, but I’m guessing it was 1978. ABE books.com has 22 copies, ranging from $6.00 to $75, based on condition and how much the seller thinks they can get.
our library gives you a weeks grace, then fines ten cents a day up to the purchase price of the book i believe. Since i drive past the library twice a day, i’ve not had to pay a fine in YEARS, and the last time they waived it because i had actually turned the book in, it was on the shelf, they just hadn’t scanned it thru the system.
my college did that to me for about three years, they actually told me i couldn’t graduate until i returned the book! which had been setting on the shelf for three years. Every quarter i’d go pull it off the shelf and show it to them and they’d claim they’d take it out of the system, but never would. Finally told them i WAS going to take the verdamnt thing if they kept accusing me of having it, i just as wellst take it! and they cleared it off the system, finally! Was a really nice photography book of the history of Mercedes Benz, with beauty shots of Hitler’s & Mussolini’s benz’s. beautiful cars!!!! not so nice fellas…
I love all the stories! I’ve always been really close to my mom, and I took after her love of books. You could always find me curled up in a sunny corner with the thickest book I could find, preferrably fantasy.
I was 14 when the first Harry Potter book was published in the U.S. My mom and I hadn’t heard of the book before, but we were always suckers for cover art, so when we saw it in Borders that September, we picked it up. I remember us agreeing that “even if the book isn’t good, the cover’s really cool.” 🙂 We both devoured the book within a week, each grabbing the book and reading a few chapters as soon as the other one set it down.
My mom pre-ordered each of the Harry Potter books as they came out after that and we read them all like that the week we got them until I left home for college; I’d read a few chapters, then she would, then I would, and so on.
She now owns the complete collection of U.S. first editions, although she was’t thinking of that as she bought them. The first few are pretty beat up from being read, re-read, and lent out (she’s the kind of person who shares her love of books with everyone she can), but that first book is still worth quite a bit of money. Every time my dad mentions selling it, she just smiles and shakes her head, and I think about all the time we spent alternately reading and talking about what we’d read. I still email her every time I read something I think she’d like, and we always buy each other books for Christmas.
Abby: Thanks so much for sharing that, what a lovely story. Families that can share their love of reading have something really special bonding them together.
sgist: Ah, the joys of college libraries. My wife can speak to that, being the supervisor of one herself.
Richard: Thanks on behalf of Deslily, and anyone else interested, for the book info. I forget to check Abe for things but it is a really good resource.
Joana: That is a fantastic story! What a wonderful gift. You must educate me now, what is a “name day”.
Deslily: It is always disappointing when something we want is waaaay out of our price range, especially in the book realm. I see Richard left you a source and hopefully you can track them down someday.
Shanra: I’m glad you shared despite not wanting to be included in the drawing. You are a much better person than me, I just keep letting the TBR pile grow and grow and grow.
Richard: Yikes! I’m not sure of the logic behind limited library fines here and elsewhere, but I have to think that they have more overall luck collecting a bunch of small fines rather than trying to collect on large, out of control fines.
Ibeeg: Your story was perfect, and obviously a very special memory for you which is the whole point of asking people to share book memories. I have several books that are special to me not *just* because of the book, but also because of one or more theatrical versions of the book: LOTR, of course, and Pride and Prejudice, A Room with a View, Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (also add seeing the Royal Shakespeare Company performing it on Broadway), Neverwhere, the list could go on and on. I discovered that extra special joy of the film/book combination because of a great teacher who used to show us film versions of books she had us read for class. While there are A LOT of book to film adaptations that I don’t like at all, when they are good there is just something about that combination.
You can read all about my Neil experience here:
http://www.stainlesssteeldroppings.com/chi-town
Needless to say, it was great!
Trisha: That is a really special book. I have a few books that were my grandfathers, and while I have yet to read them and they don’t leap out to me as favorites right now, I still treasure them because they were his when he was a child.
Great giveaway Carl. We “spoke” about this via e-mail once before, but I remember finding my mom’s copy of The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield at her house after she passed away. While thumbing through the hard-cover, I found a bookmark that had her handwriting on it – she was writing down clues as she read, trying to figure out the mysteries in the book. I’ve kept the bookmark, along with the mass card from her funeral, right where I found it and now keep this prescious book on my shelf in my bedroom. Every time I look at it it reminds me of her.
Stephanie: I do remember having this conversation with you. That is such a special memory and I thank you for sharing it with everyone. Personally I find it to be an extra special memory because The Thirteenth Tale is such a wonderful book. I don’t know if I asked you this or not, and forgive me if I am being too nosy, but did she finish the book? I’m so glad you have that tangible link to your mother to go along with your lifetime of memories of her.
Yes Carl, she finished it (and then insisted that I read it). That is probably one of the things I miss most about my mom – sharing the books that we love with each other.
This is horrible/ funny. I had a taste for reading Danielle Steele when I was in my early preteens, around middle school aged. My stepmother had a cabinet filled with them, but had made it clear that I was not to read them or go near them because they were filled with “naughtiness”. This ban, of course, only made me want to read them all the more.
So, I would sneak out of my room and down a flight of creaky stairs to grab a book–any of these books– and would secret it out to our back porch. Once there, I’d read by flashlight for hours, usually killing batteries.
I must’ve read a dozen of Danielle Steele’s novels this way, and I am now going to credit my stepmother with a love of reading all that’s controversial and a serious distaste for romance novels.
Thanks for the giveaway!
mrsderaps @ hotmail . com
I’ve talked to Richard in email.. I have the doubleday book the ones that are so expensive are the original hardbacks, as 3 separate books. I’d settle for seeing them underglass lol
Deslily: We need a traveling book exhibit that shows all the things we could never afford but would love to see.
Mrs. DeRaps: That’s hilarious. Isn’t that always how it goes? I remember reading several teen books with “naughty” stuff in them in my pre-teen years just because of that little thrill of reading stuff I probably shouldn’t have been.
Stephanie: I think I remember you telling me that now, but thanks for satisfying my curiosity.
Not certain if you receive an alert on comments made in older posts. To let you know, I left one on your chi-town post. thanks for sharing.
Ohhhh! I like that! lol
Deslily: We need someone to make it happen! 🙂
Ibeeg: Thanks for the alert, I’ll make sure and head over there.
my story involves my sister as well, who reads as much if not more than i do….
when i used to watch my siblings on the weekends, one of the things we’d do at least every other week was go to the library. we’d pack a lunch and walk over there, i’d sign the kids up for the free activities (and usually a free movie!), and we’d come home with stacks of books. one of the books that my sister was always checking out was the ordinary princess – she’d even get annoyed when other people checked it out, because that was “her” book! i ended up getting a job at that library as a shelver, and one of our projects was packing up the books that were weeded out of the system to go to the main library (they were processed and sold at book sales, i believe). guess what title turned up in the pile one saturday – yep, “her” book! i begged and pleaded the manager on shift to let me have it for her, and they did – she was ecstatic!
i didn’t even think much about it until a couple of months ago; me and my fiance went up to sc (where my family is living now), and we stayed in my sister’s old bedroom. guess what was sitting on the headboard….she said she keeps it there because it’s her comfort read, so when she has to stay in her old room (for her second job – about once/wk), she reads it and has good dreams….
k_sunshine1977 at yahoo dot com
Several years ago I was perusing the book shelves in a local bookstore looking for a book that would absorb & distract me because, at the time, I was living with at home among some dysfunctional family members caring for my sick mother. I was slowly being driven batty & I needed a book(s) that would take me away from it all. I came across Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner. This book intrigued me because the main character is in a wheelchair, not a very common situation for a main characters. I was interested because I’ve been disabled since I was a child and use a wheelchair 98% of the time. After reading Angle of Repose, which opened my eyes to my own disabled life as well as my current situation caring for my mom, I wanted to read every thing Wallace Stegner wrote. I eventually discovered Crossing to Safety, a novel about 2 young couples, spirited, full of hope & promise, who meet when the husbands begon teaching at a small university. The couples become close friends, practically inseperable. One of the wives, Sally, is diagnosed with polio & requires crutches to walk, although even with them she struggles. Sally’s diagnosis has a major impact on her, her husband & the couples’ friendship. They remain friends, their love and loyalty strong but there is an awkwardness and some discomfort that sets in, particularly because they cannot enjoy the same activities they once did. I read Crossing to Safety with extreme interest. In some ways I identified very closely with Sally’s struggle to be herself following the polio diagnosis & to prevent it from changing her. I understand many of the inner struggles and conversations Sally has with herself over her own behavior & feelings & those of loved ones, friends and colleagues. I relate very much to Sally’s struggle to reconcile her hopes, dreams & the life she had with her new situation and make it work. I appreciate, so much, the insight I gained from reading about Sally’s husband’s & her close friends’ struggle to treat her as the same women they’ve always loved & have known since well before the polio but to also accept Sally as she is now. I admire their patience with Sally’s moods & behavior bur understand when they’ve had enough with the depression & despair & let her know. This book isn’t only about Sally’s polio, it’s about friendship, survival, loyalty, love, compromise & coping with the inevitable small & large tragedies that life throws in our paths and persevering to create an enjoyable life & one you can be proud to live.
Crossing to Safety has taught me so much about myself, about the people in my life as well as the ones I have yet to meet but who will become a part of my life one day and about life. It’s an amazing book and one I think is a book worth reading for every body. I don’t think only disabled people will benefit from reading Crossing to Safety. Wallace Stegner was an amazing writer who wrote, realistic, beautiful, insightful books with terrific three-dimensional characters.
Thank you for an awesome giveaway! I’ve been looking forward to reading The Man Who Loved Books Too Much since it was first published.
~ Amy
Aimala127 AT gmail DOT com
In the mid to late ’70s my best friend at the time and I (we were 10 or 11 years old) would wander all over downtown Minneapolis causing mischief. One day we were walking by the main library and and my friend reached into the library book return slot and grabbed a book out, handed it to me and said, “Wanna read a book?” I said, “Sure” and brought it home and read it.
It was Ringword, by Larry Niven.
This was my introduction to hard Sci Fi and I loved it. I’ve been reading Sci Fi ever since and Larry Niven is to this day one of my favorite authors, I re-read his books all the time.
I would say that it was a real life changing moment.
Ken: What a great story! Even more so given that despite only reading a handful of his books, Ringworld being among them, I consider myself a fan of Larry Niven.
Amy: Thanks so much for sharing that. As I look back on my own reading experiences I cannot recall any main characters that were in wheelchairs. There might be some there, but nothing that is springing to mind. While I truly believe that good books allow all of us to find ourselves in the main character(s) even if they are of a different sex, age, race, etc. than us, I imagine there is something extra special about reading good books where the character is one we can easily identify with because the ARE like us. I’m glad you have been able to find that, and did so at such an important moment in your life when you really needed that.
Again, thank you so much for sharing this.
Kisah J: Wonderful story. I can just imagine how thrilled your sister was and it doesn’t surprise me that the book is still precious to her now. Her story reminds me of a book I will soon review, where the young female protagonist has a special book that she reads over and over again and she too considers it “her” book.
It was a dark and stormy night…
Actually, no. It was just a regular day. I was on vacation with my family, I think possibly in Tennessee, that bit is kind of a blur. I remember the bookstore, but I don’t remember the name, because at the time I didn’t know what it would mean to me later in life.
I was just getting over my tween obsession with pegasi and unicorns and discovering the world of dragons. And wouldn’t you know it, right there next to the door was a red book with a dragon on the cover. I had no idea what it was about, but it had dragons in it, and that was good enough for me. I bought it, and my world changed.
Oh, what book was it? Dragons of Autumn Twilight, of course!
That book kindled a lifetime love of all things fantasy. It opened a door that I never knew existed. And later I learned that the whole series started with a Dungeons and Dragons campaign. I recently started playing D&D myself, and not long after I picked up that book again and read it with new eyes. It’s still just as good as it was when I first read it, but now I could see through the characters to the people sitting around a table with a bunch of paper and some dice. It was quite the experience!
Carrie: Isn’t it great when you can remember the exact book that was a gateway into a new genre? Patricia A. McKillip’s Riddle Master trilogy (Riddle Master of Hed, Heir of Sea and Fire, Harpist in the Wind) was what opened the door to fantasy for me. My brother got me the first book for a gift when we were both fairly young…I imagine I was around 10-12?…and I was sucked right in and quickly bought the next two paperbacks in the series. I’ve been a fan of her work ever since.
Very cool that you are playing D&D! Have you been watching The Guild? If not, you should track it down. Quite a fun show.
I will have to look those up next time I’m in the bookstore. I tend to stick to my favorites, but I’ve been trying to branch out a little bit and try new things.
I have been watching the Guild, but I’m a little behind. I think I saw all of Season 2. I have been reading Wil Wheaton’s blog, and I guess he’s involved in it… I definitely have to catch up!