Bookish Pursuits

White washing the fencefrom Mark Twain's Tom Sawyer

Welcome to Tuesday 4 kept up in honor of it's founder Toni Taddeo.   

Over 12,000 books, many once required reading in schools and including children's books have been banned.  Even Jane Eyre finds itself under scrutiny..

1.Do you think any book or series has  helped form your view on things.. life, love, etc?

  Many will say the Bible but how about more secular books that you feel have taught or influenced you?  The Little House on the Prairie series influenced me with a greater respect for pioneers and the difficulties they faced.   

The biography of  George Washington Carver made me get my nose to the grindstone in school instead of goofing off. He is one of my heroes. He was a genuinely good man.

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens which made a heavy impact on taking care of the poor and homeless.

"It may be, that in the sight of Heaven, you are more worthless and less fit to live than millions like this poor man's child. Oh God! to hear the Insect on the leaf pronouncing on the too much life among his hungry brothers in the dust!"   

There was a Scottish series of books my mother's friend sent her yearly called The Friedhship Book. of Francis Gay.   My mother never read them but I did.  It was full of  inspirational stories and poems   I devoured them as a teenager and ever since too.  

 Francis Gay was the pen name of Herbert Leslie Gee (1901–1977), a prolific English writer, journalist, and ardent Methodist born in Bridlington, Yorkshire.

I've done a few posts on his articles.  Here is one very short story from his books.

Mister God, This is Anna.. heart breaking but inspirational. 

 My grandmother read the pamphlets called The Upper Room and I read them after she did.

2.  What is your favorite book or book series and why is it  a favorite?

I am a fan of the Robert B. Parker Spenser series of books and  his books based on the character of Jesse Stone.     I like them because they are fast paced, lean on words and descriptions . They get to the point!

Like Toni, I am also a fan of Agatha Christie's mysteries and have read most of them.

3. If your favorite book or book series was being cast for a TV/Movie series, who would play the main characters?

Spenser for Hire was cast with Robert Urich playing Spenser and Jesse Stone was cast with Tom Selleck as Jesse Stone .   Avory Brooks, a professor at Rutgers (where I went to university) played the part of Hawk.  

Miss Marple was best played, I believe, by Joan Hickson.

Hercule Poirot was best with David Suchet I think.

4.  Are there any books you have read many times?

One Fifth Avenue by Candace Bushnell

 44 Charles Street by Danielle Steel

Early Autumn by Robert B. Parker

A White House Diary by Lady Bird Johnson

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.

The Song of Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

The Complete Sermons of John Wesley