'War Stories'
There's more to life than watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer! No. Really, there is! Honestly! Here's a place for Buffistas to come and discuss what it is they're reading, their favorite authors and poets. "Geez. Crack a book sometime."
I honestly think my love of fantasy/mystery/adventure/historical AU came from very early exposure to the works of Carl Barks. My dad read me his old Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge comics when I was a wee thing.
I've enjoyed reading this thread, and have been nodding like a bobblehead upon seeing many of the names. I'd almost forgotten about Barbara Michaels - I'd stumbled across one of her books in the library and plowed through as many as I could find.
Say, has anyone here read Rebecca, by Du Maurier? Does it really end with the De Winters coming upon Manderley in flames or did I just get a book that's missing the last few pages? It doesn't really need more to resolve the plot, but it did seem kind of abrupt.
Yep, that's the end.
Huh. OK, thanks, flea.
I first read sci-fi when I was...5 or 6. Elementary school library had a copy of "Star Beast" by Heinlein. One of his YA type books, but I was hooked.
Funny, thinking about it, as I can't stand Heinlein now.
Other than the Narnia series, I didn't read much Scifi as a kid. That changed as an adult with Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman.
I was lucky, as it turns out - we had a Carnegie library in my town, so even though there was no science fiction or fantasy in my parents' extensive library, I was never more than 3 blocks away from everything I could want.
I was late to the Andre Norton though (midschool), because she was on the top shelf and I couldn't reach them for a long time.
Aww, Andre Norton. I think the first one of hers I read was CatsEye.
Got an email a few years ago from Misty Lackey (God knows how I happened to be on her email list?) saying that Norton was really ill & feeling very bleak about her writing & having not achieved anything, and asking if people would email her if they HAD loved her books. I sent a long email about how I'd adored her SF books as a teen, and how they'd shaped my mental landscape and all that jazz - and being a teacher & passing on a love of literature now etc etc. But seeing Norton's name now always makes me feel sad for her.
One of my most treasured possessions is a letter on mint green stationery printed with a statue of Bastet, typed on an old manual that threw a couple of letters above the line. The envelope has a smear of lipstick on the flap. I'd mentioned a couple of experiences with the cat in my life at the time, and asked a question about the ordering of her High Halleck and The Dales novels.
It's a lovely, chatty letter, signed by Norton herself.
I also have a postcard with a photo of Bill Cosby in a bush taken by Dennis Hopper, with a hand printed reference to a comment I'd made--"No, not Crosby, COsby"--and signed by him, but that's neither here nor there.
aw ... I loved Andre Norton's books. And I think some of them set examples of man/woman relationships that were a lot more equal than the real-life ones I saw during the '50s.
Does Gerald Durrell count as historical?
Lawrence Durrell? I think Gerald wrote about animals ....