Sunday, May 17, 2020

Annual Books

I read a great many books.

I originally started tracking my reading in 2008 (from what I can see of my annual documentation). I think this was at the suggestion of a self improvement book I read, where the recommendation was to divide books into categories are read one out of each category.    That works, if you have the ability to multi-task.  I do not have that ability.

What it turned into (over time) is an annual record of the books that I have read in a year (the range for the last 13 years seems to be between 70 and 96 per year).  This has turned it less into a guided reading program (although occasionally I do set areas of study) and more into a historical record of "what's been read".

The readings consist of already owned books (I believe I have over 800 volumes in house and we are at somewhere around 1200 total) as well as certain amount that I acquire over the year (typically between 20 and 25), so the reading is both things I have read and things are new.  However, there are certain books that I return to year after year, almost as guideposts along my reading journey.

1.  The Bible

I have read through the Revised Standard Version (RSV) and currently use the New King James Version (NKJV).  I follow the "Read The Bible In A Year" program (various versions out there), which gets one through the Old Testament and the New Testament in a year (New Testament in the morning, Old Testament in the evening).  In terms of structured practice, this has been the standard for 15 years or more.

2.  Dark Piper (Andre Norton)


Andre Norton remains the Science Fiction and Fantasy author I own the most volumes of (42) and the one that will regularly seek out in used book stores (to be clear, her older science fiction items.  The later co-authoring works and revisiting of previous worlds were never quite as good).  Of these, my favorite is Dark Piper.

The plot is somewhat novel:  post galactic war, a veteran returns to a planetary colony and connects with a group of young people.  A refugee ship (former pirate or mercenary) appears, asking to land.  The veteran (Griss Lugard, the Dark Piper), plots to save the children.  What follows is what goes wrong when you misjudge people and a struggle to survive in a quickly post civilized world.

The cover you see was the 1980 version which I own.  The cover itself is tattered on the edges from being read so much and has been re-taped to the spine.  The book itself has broad scribble marks from where someone when they were young wrote in it (I do not recall who now).

I remember precisely where we bought this book, in the small bookstore (the only one at that time) in my hometown when I was still in middle school.  I remember the aisle it was on.

When younger, I enjoyed the book because the protagonist was a young man (17-ish or so) in a wilderness and leading.  Now that I am older, I appreciate the book both for the struggle to survive and making one's way in a world which has rapidly collapsed.  I now find myself much more aligned with the veteran and his worry about the collapse of civilization and the preserving what he can.

3.  A Book of Five Rings (Miyamoto Musashi)



Musashi was a late 16th century - early to mid 17th century samurai  (circa 1585-1645) whose life bridged the end of the Sengoku Jidai (The Warring States Period) and into the establishment of the Tokugawa Shogunate (1600-1868).  He is the founder of the Nito (Two Sword Style) but was also accomplished as a painter, sculptor, garden designer, and blackmith.  A Book Of Five Rings (Go Rin No Sho) was written within the last year of his life and represents his 60 years of training and combat.

Of all the Japanese strategic and sword texts (and I own and have read a great many of them), Musashi's is by far the most accessible.  Like most Japanese texts, discussion about techniques are such a way that it is not clear (without personal instruction) to understand them.  But the principles that he explains are put in such a way that anyone can understand.  I have been reading this book for 30 years (having worn out my first copy as pages fell out of the binding I procured a second one) and still discover new aspects of it (last year as an exercise I read it once a week all year.  It was a valuable event).

My favorite quote (and there are many):  "Step by step by step walk the thousand mile road.  Study strategy over the years and achieve the spirit of a warrior.  Today is victory over yourself of yesterday.  Tomorrow is your victory over lesser men."

4)  John Carter Series (Edgar Rice Burroughs)

(Cover from Thuvia, Maid of Mars)

I remember exactly where I was when I first discovered Barsoom (Burroughs' name for Mars).  It was 1980 and we were traveling across the US.  We were in Colorado and I was sleeping in a tent outside of the camper my parents and sister were in.  The sky, when I would look up, was black and full of stars.

Into this world John Carter appeared.

Well, really not him directly (the book I had were 4, 5, and 6 in the series) but his world of Red Men, Green Men (the Tharks), a dying planet with almost no water and miles and miles of ochre moss covered sea bottoms with the remains of cities that once dotted the oceans, where every hand was quick to sword and radium gun.  The women were beautiful, the men honorable, and there was (literally) a world to explore with all sorts of unknown items.

I loved it.

Eventually I acquired all 11 volumes (the illustration above is by Michael Whelan; if you find them I recommend those just for the covers alone).  John Carter is larger than life (as every hero should be) but everything I wanted (and perhaps want) to be:  skilled in arms, heroic in strength, quick in decisions, a leader and explorer.  

The series in quality went down over time (understandable, perhaps:  the first one was published in 1909 and last story written in the early 1940's), but they all still quite enchanting to me - it takes no effort all to picture where I was when I started reading and to see the ochre moss and charging green hordes in my mind.

I have read the other series of Burroughs (His Venus series and his Hollow Earth (Pellucidar) and enjoyed them, but they did not enchant like John Carter did. (Also, I have read one book of Tarzan series.  I think it is close enough to reality that I am not really that interested.  I prefer my fantasies to be much farther removed from real life).

5)  Conan (Robert E. Howard)


Conan the Barbarian of the Hyborian age is the root of a great deal of fantasy writing even to this day (I think one can safely argue that only J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis in post 1940's era spring from a different tree).   Howard's barbarian was skilled warrior, a surprisingly clever thinker, and a master adventurer who crossed and crossed again the known world of his time.

Howard's writings themselves were not in any particular order of Conan's life but were written as series of short stories and serials (with only one novel).  Later, L. Sprague De Camp and Lin Carter (themselves fantasy authors of the 60's and 70's) were commissioned to bring the Conan series into a sort of order.  What evolved was a series of 11 books incorporating the actual or edited text of Howard along with stories written by either Camp or Carter which are based on ideas or texts of Howard that never made it into a full story to cover the full extent of his life from a young runaway slave at 15 to a King who renounces his crown in his 60's (of course, to go adventuring).

I love Conan.  He is unduly strong, a doughty warrior, chivalric in his own barbarian way, and an adventurer across many lands.  I think in some ways my greater love of languages and ancient cultures stems from his adventures doing the same thing.

Fair warning:  Howard was a writer without equal and his stories, where largely left alone or lightly touched, are without equal.  The stories written by others are not nearly as strong, but still enjoyable.

So a question:  Do you have books that you re-read year after year, and what are they?

25 comments:

  1. I used to re-read The Dragonriders of Pern series by Anne McCaffrey. I still look for new ones to read. I believe her son has taken over most of the writing now.
    Thanks for your list. Some of them I only know from TV movies.

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    1. Linda, I have read these as well (also, although I did not realize it until just now, cover art also by Michael Whelan). I enjoyed the original trilogy very much as well as the first smaller work she did, but kind of lost interest after the first trilogy and I thought they had come to a nice conclusion and felt like it was a bit pushing the series for the sake of something more than the story. You are correct, I do think that her son now writes them.

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  2. I started reading at a very, very young age. My first book was Journey To The Centre Of The Earth in grade one or two. I remember being blown away by it to this day.

    I generally don't re-read books (with the exception of The Good One). I have about 40 or 50 on the Kindle and most of them I only got part way through. I have two problems with modern literature now:

    - modern works often are thinly disguised social justice lectures written by the kind of people whom I despise for their sexualities and ideologies.

    - most modern works today are 'derivatives' of the classics you and I read as kids. Some are close enough to be carbon copies. I get the first chapter done and I am bored because I know how it will end.

    I am craving some good reading material and I dunno why I didn't do it sooner - I think I am going to start hunting down the classics I always meant to read but never did. There has to be thousands. It just occurred to me that I now actually have the time to hunt and do this... thanks for the prod, TB...!!

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    1. Glen, if you want to find Burrough's Pellucidar Series, you will find it very similar to Journey to The Center of The Earth.

      You and I have talked in the past that most of my science fiction choices (and really anymore, anything that is not history) ends around 1990 because, as you state, they have become something other than the telling of a good story. I am sure many of them are on Kindle; if you like hard copies (as I do) I might suggest Half Price Books (www.hpb.com) as an alternative to The Nile. Prices are similar and they do run coupons from time to time.

      Although now you have made me think - maybe I can provide individual book or series reviews on a more regular basis...

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    2. Glenfilthie7:50 PM

      I am having a difficult hunt, TB. Bad as our arts and lit are... the critics are even worse. When I look for recommendations from them I get stuff like “Harry Potter” or some pozzed edition of Star Trek or Star Wars. Or they recommend some other childish scribble that I only got half way through before quitting in disgust...

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    3. Writer of twenty thousand leagues under the sea wrote many many books not all adventures

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    4. Jerry Pournelle is a good one. Some of David Drake's (Forlorn Hope), although I have not reall all. Heinlein of course.

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    5. Jules Verne can be enjoyable Deb. HG Wells is also another one.

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  3. I haven't kept up with my reading in a long time. I learned to read with my dad's help in 1st grade. I was reading Zane Gray and Old West / Frontier Times magazine before 2'nd. I was way ahead of most kids in my class. Thanks Dad.

    I read the Bible, as close to daily as I can. I read the NRSV but nothing compares to the KJV. It's like an old friend. I used to call it the secret handshake. You had to know the definition of archaic words to understand it. After this go round, I'll read the KJV next.

    When a friend loaned me the first John Carter novel I was hooked. I found all the volumes in old bookstores, too. I read it to my kids. When Deja Thoris is in the rotating room, and it spins closed as a scream is heard... still thrills me to this day. 40 years after I first read it....

    I read the entire Team Yankee tank saga, as well as the early Tom Clancy stuff. Over and over until they were worn out. Sadly, I haven't kept up with my reading, but I have managed to score some good books for the library from time to time.

    On your recommendation, I'm searching for the Book of 5 Rings. And starting to journal what all I read during the year. Those are good things to aspire to.

    Thank you for this post.

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    1. STxAR - First of all, thank you very much and thanks for stopping by!

      I have never read Western novels but may pivot to the old ones at some point as my ability to find old science fiction authors I enjoy is becoming limited (sadly, because most of them are dead and no longer writing).

      From time to time I change up my editions that I am reading. I may try the "old" KJV next year just for a change of pace.

      Burroughs had such a wide imagination that all of his series are novel - they involve some similarities - effective immortality, lands that are torn apart by war, heroic action - but they are all different enough in their own way that having read one, you cannot say that you have read them all (Interestingly, I think my favorite John Carter Novel was actually #7, A Fighting Man of Mars, which involves John Carter himself very little).

      I have never read Clancy, although loved the Red October movie (I remember the book being highly recommended; it just never found its way onto my list.

      If you are looking for A Book of Five Rings (There are a lot of copies), I highly recommend the Overlook Version (the one in the picture) if you can find it. It is a bit pricey at The Large Major Online Book Seller, but I know (for example) of a copy at a Half Price Books near where I live (in-store cost, $7.99). www.hpb.com

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    2. I went to AbeBooks and found a copy for $10 with shippiing. They are my goto for old machinery books and metal work textbooks. I have been building up a machine shop-lite in my garage. I blog about it a little. budgetmachining if interested in a palate cleanser of sorts.

      We have a few HPB's up north in the city. I wonder if they ship between stores? I will keep a lookout for that version.

      I read a few of the "major western writer", and all his books were the same. Super man cowboy (Sacket?), unerring shot, woman, ranch in danger, wins over extreme odds. I couldn't finish the third one... Sacked it.

      Zane Gray wrote a trilogy about his family: Betty Zane was the first in the series. It was about colonial America. I can still see Betty running between the magazine and the house with an apron full of powder and shot..... Under fire.... Lew Wetzel with his long black hair, reloading on the run, chased through the forest. Good stuff... Might be worth a read.

      Quaking Asp Cabin was another good story... bloody hand print in that one.

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    3. STxAR, I think they will do inter-store shipments. I am familiar with Abebooks, but have never purchased one from there.

      Zane Gray would be my first try in Westerns, more just because I am familiar with his name.

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    4. Dad said he would paint the picture with his words so you felt like you were actually there. I noticed that reading Quaking Asp Cabin. I can still see it in my mind's eye, and I read that back in the late 70's....

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    5. Thank you StxAR! I will surely look.

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    6. I ordered the book before I read your recommendation. The old blind hog turned up an acorn. It's the proper publisher, as shown on the blog. Just the intro is fascicnating. Thank you for the excellent recommendation.

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    7. Oh, this is wonderful! Enjoy!

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  4. Bayou renaissance man has written some westerns
    Printed a bit of one on his website. Very good. It was

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    1. When dad passed on, I got all his old Frontier Times and True West magazines. Years of them. I kept some and gave the rest to Peter Grant for background reading. Dad always wanted to write, but never did. I figured all that information should go to help some one who IS writing.

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    2. How awesomely cool is that? And thanks for the recommmendation Deb.

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  5. Anonymous6:45 AM

    My Dad recommended the Pellucidar, John Carter of Mars and Tarzan books when I was a teenager. I haven't read any of them in years, but still have the paperback books on the bookshelves. A stroll down memory lane is called for.

    For some reason, I really enjoy reading and re-reading the Gary Paulson 'Brian' series of books. Young adult book series, but for me, entertaining and I learn - relearn old lessons from them.

    The book I keep coming back to - SIX WAYS IN, 12 WAYS OUT. A book written for people who intend to spend a lot of time in the wilderness but have to depend on resources carried on their back. I have several copies of the books, two kept sealed in plastic wrap and stored in a dark corner of my rucksack. Just in case.

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    1. Anonymous - I can assure that overall, Burroughs holds up well over the years, especially because (at least for John Carter and Pellucidar) they rely on precisely no current events to make the stories work.

      I am not familiar with Gary Paulson, but looking online, looks like he has many. I will take note - I enjoy C.S. Lewis and John Christopher just as much as Norton and Pournelle.

      Six Ways In, 12 Ways Out - I cannot find this book on the major Interweb bookseller - by chance do you have an author?

      Thanks for stopping by!

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  6. Anonymous6:42 AM

    Here is a link to where that booklet is sold. $15 shipped cost - not bad at all. The book's purpose was to consolidate a lot of survival escape evasion information into one form. Much of the information is found in the sidebar links.

    http://www.usrsog.org/manu.htm

    Gary Paulson's most famous work (I think) is HATCHET. A young teenager suddenly stranded in the woods via a small airplane crash. I was working with my wife at her junior high school classroom, when I saw the book and asked if I could read it.

    I hope this helps.

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    1. Anonymous - It does (well, really both answers do). Thank you!

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  7. If you haven't read them, I highly recommend the Horseclans series by Robert Adams. Definitely not PG rated but I loved reading them in my late teens/ early twenties.

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    1. Mad Irish - I actually read them back in the early 80's when they came out (yes, not terribly PG at all but some interesting ideas). They do show up from time to time in my local used book store; I may have to give them a second look!

      Thanks for stopping by!

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Comments are welcome (and necessary, for good conversation). If you could take the time to be kind and not practice profanity, it would be appreciated. Thanks for posting!