Green Eggs & Night Owls

[pcbatiks]

On the night owl thread last night several of us were talking about books. I started thinking about some of the books I have owned over the years. The question tonight is what is the name of a book that you wished you still had......it could have been lost, given away, etc....

I wished that I still had all the books my Aunt Shirley gave me for my 1st birthday, Her gift to me was 13 of the small story books........I still have about half of them. The others were lost when they were loaned to someone else years ago. I have replaced a few over the years that I found at garage sales......but wish I had the whole group of them.

So what book do you wish that you still had and why?

[bkthomas]

Re: Green Eggs & Night Owls

The Cinderella book my sister had where her dress was all gold and pink!

[ilive2craft2]

Re: Green Eggs & Night Owls

Hmmm, interesting question. I think it would be my copy of "My Side of the Mountain" by Jean Craighead George. I read that book over and over again as a kid - I think it finally fell apart. I think I will order myself a new copy of it.

I also read the Trixie Belden series as a kid and I have slowly, but surely been finding and replacing those. I know I could look on line and get the ones I am missing, but it is kind of fun to keep it a treasure hunt when we go to antique sales or used book stores.

My mom had a hard time keeping me in reading material - she was always happy when summer ended and I could get books at the school library again. I think I read almost every book they had. I still love to read.

[snippet]

Re: Green Eggs & Night Owls

It isn't really a book, but my mom made a scrapbook of newspaper lessons for learning to read. She used that book to teach me to read when I was 3 or 4. I was really smart back then, and remember turning the pages of the clippings and sounding out the letters with her when we lived in Turkey.

[Kgrammiecaz]

Re: Green Eggs & Night Owls

My memory is terrible but I do wish I had the sets of childrens books I purchased when I had my first little girl. I was young as well than and never thought of the importance of keeping book sets and keeping them nice. My first two girls got use out of them but betweem them and my third girl 11 years later they disappeared. Probably to nieces and nephews since I have the oldest

My first baby is 40 now and those would be awesome to have today

[Judy, USMC]

Re: Green Eggs & Night Owls

The only books that mom & dad could afford to buy back then were school books ... and we always bought used ones to save money. Luckily we had the travelling library that stopped 2 blocks away and a brick & mortar about a mile away.

If I could have, I would have kept every Nancy Drew I read. From there I continued on to Agatha Christie. Continued on with Robin Cook into my adult years. Now it's Catherine Coulter, David Baldacci and Patricia Cornwell. But I still miss the feel and aroma of those Nancy Drew's!

[bubba]

Re: Green Eggs & Night Owls

I wish I had my series of books by Jan Karon, but I lent them out and that was the end of that. I recently bought the first half again on Kindle, but still have the last half to buy.

[tdimitrov77]

Re: Green Eggs & Night Owls

I wish I had the set of Louis L'amour that my Grandpa left me when he passed away...he was always reading one of his books...and they meant a lot to him. Unfortunately they were lost in a fire.

[toggpine]

Re: Green Eggs & Night Owls

My mom was good about keeping my books. I have a nice collection of the Richard Scarey books and my copies of Shel Silverstein. I still have the Chronicles of Narnia, Little House, and a few others. I don't buy a lot of books, but when I do I hang on to them.

The ones I am the most upset about are the hard-cover & audio-books I mail-loaned to my Grandmother several states away. When she moved my father and his family "lost" several of the boxes that they were storing for her. There was quite a tidy sum of money in those books. If I had been told they weren't traveling with her, I would have paid for them to be shipped back to me.

I read a book in middle school from the library, and the story really stuck with me. My step-sister hunted it down and bought me my very own copy about 15 years later. It is Seven Daughters and Seven Sons by Barbara Cohen. It is one I will keep until it turns to dust.

[pcbatiks]

Re: Green Eggs & Night Owls

I wish I had my series of books by Jan Karon, but I lent them out and that was the end of that. I recently bought the first half again on Kindle, but still have the last half to buy.

Hey Pat.........the Mitford series is a great set of books! I have those........just need to replace one.

[MayinJerset]

Re: Green Eggs & Night Owls

Yes, Interesting question tonight. My parents didn't encourage reading or buy books either so when I was in grammar school I relied on the nearby library. One book I always pulled out to look at was about a squirrel. I loved the ink drawings of the squirrel who had a little hat fashioned from the top of an acorn. Never having seen a squirrel I didn't know that the top of an acorn would be much too small to cover the head of a squirell. Never did remember the name of the book. I always looked at Lorna Doone but never read it because it was such a thick book.

Trying to think which book I wish I had now. Read the books I was required to in school, 'Prince and the Pauper' in 7th grade is one I remember. During 8th grade my home room and English class were in the school's small library and that is when I started reading the Little Women books. High school freshman were required to read Silas Marner but there weren't enough copies to go around so my class read 'When Knighthood Was in Flower'. Don't remember the story except the knights were always fooling around with wrenches behind the hay stacks. Our teacher was an old maid and she blushed when we got to those parts. On my own I also read 'Tale of Two Cities', Sidney Carton was the first fictional character I liked, 'tis a far better thing I do than I have ever done..", so romantic to a 13 year old in high school.

I didn't become a big reader until after high school. Read a lot of Steinbeck novels I think because for some strange reason someone gave my father a bunch of them. Also read very inappropriate books as my parents hadn't a clue to what I was reading. I do wish I had my original copy of 'The Catcher in the Rye'. That really was the first book to make me feel for the main character and think about him but that book is long gone although I do have a another copy.

Always bought books for our sons beginning with the The Cat in The Hat books. All three of the boys read and re-read them until they literally fell apart. Boys always had a book case in their rooms and to this day all 3 are big readers.

[Cathy F]

Re: Green Eggs & Night Owls

I had a set of my mother's Nancy Drew books that I read growing up. They were my favorite books and had been hers as a child. They had glossy black and white pictures in them with a tissue paper overlay. Can't find books like that anymore. They we're lost over the years from when my parents moved.

[Carol336]

Re: Green Eggs & Night Owls

I'd probably have to say my Nancy Drew books.

There weren't many books in our house growing up, but I remember the bookmobile coming every so often, and I would check out a huge stack to last me till they came around again.

I've been an avid cookbook collector over the years, I must have about 150 of them. The funny thing is that I rarely use them anymore. If I want a recipe, I go to the internet. So I'm giving considerable thought about what to do with them when we move. I surely won't have room for them in the small condo.....but which ones will I keep....so many decisions. I did thin the herd a few months ago, and took a bunch to the book recycle bin.....but man it is really hard to give up books of any kind isn't it!!!!

[Iris Girl]

Re: Green Eggs & Night Owls

My Nancy Drew books I had every one of them up to the time I started reading more advanced stuff. Can't really remember what happen to them, think I gave them away.

[MayinJerset]

Re: Green Eggs & Night Owls

Carol336 said, "I did thin the herd a few months ago, and took a bunch to the book recycle bin.....but man it is really hard to give up books of any kind isn't it!!!! :"

Yes, Carol it is hard giving up books. We use one small bedroom as our office and library. One entire wall is a book case, I have boxes of my books under my desk, a big pile is growing in the corner as donations to our library, and this room really needs to be painted. Only thing keeping us for tackling the job is once we take down all the books what do we do with them. It will take DH forever to weed his out. He has and still reads paperbacks that are falling apart. At least they don't take up as much room as the hardcovers do. I tend to keep novels and books about Brooklyn but many of them may be on their way to the library very soon. Also have quite a few cook books that I have made about 2 recipes from but like Carol I usually search the internet for recipes now. DH has his books as well as library books and school books all over the house.


Makes me wonder if books have the same meaning to our younger generations who read with Kindles, etc. Nothing warm and cozy about reading them and trying to find a bookmark when you have to put the book down for awhile.