Do yall read (Books)

[Western]

I used to read ALLOT when I was 8-14 years old. We didn't have video games, computers and the like, heck we didn't have a TV until I was around 10 and we could only watch it on Sunday night when Wild Kingdom was on.

Its been allot of years since I have read because I wanted to. If you Live in Texas and /or have a huge fascination with Indians as I do here is a super book I am almost through reading.

Indian Depredations In Texas. Published in 1889, 672 pages. available at Amazon.

Indians have been a life long fascination for me, I have found artifacts and arrowheads in many states, and often as a kid wished I "was there" to see it first hand.

This book contains story's compiled by the author from 1st hand knowledge and second hand trusted sources. He is obviously biased, as of the time (1800's) and the advantage he had of witnessing things only left now to the imagination, explains some what why things are "as they are" in history. It also shows the tenacity of the settlers in Texas, most from "back East". It is written in the language of the time.

If your into frontier life dealing with the Texas Indians, this is a super book.

[dave1949]

Western

I was wondering if a thread on reading would be of interest to others too.
Maybe if people chime in with books they have enjoyed, we can find some good winter reading.

'Reading The Forested Landscape, A Natural History Of New England'; 1997; by Tom Wessels is a good book. He covers the time period beginning with the arrival of European settlers through the near present.

Since I am a New England transplant, it helped me understand how this area became the way it is today. I learned a lot and it cleared up some mysteries that I had wondered about on my own land. About 200 hundred pages and moves right along.


The best periodical I know of specific to the Northeast is the 'Northern Woodlands' magazine. Six issues per year. Covers everything from logging and lumber prices to wildlife and forest management and a lot in between. The articles by Virginia Barlow are super.

Dave.

[Bird]

My family got our first TV when I was 14, and since we were not near the TV stations, reception wasn't too good. So from the time I started to read in the first grade, my mother used to take me to the little city library to pick out books I wanted to read. And I read The Reader's Digest cover to cover every month from the time I was about 10 years old until I retired. When we became full time RVers, I cancelled my subscription, but still bought a copy each month at the store. I probably only read about half of them now. Of course getting through college meant reading a lot of books, and then there was a long list of books that I had to study for promotional exams. And now . . . I rarely read a book. But if Patrick F. McManus comes out with a new one, I'll probably buy it. I only have 8 of his books.

[charlz]

Originally Posted by Bird

But if Patrick F. McManus comes out with a new one, I'll probably buy it. I only have 8 of his books.

I think I have only read 4 or 5 of his books. Seemed the humor dropped off a bit in later books.... maybe due to running out of material. Some seriously funny stuff though.

Growing up in rural Montana I was a voracious reader. While we did have TV there were only two channels My mom had been a subscriber to Readers Digest Condensed books and we had a whole wall of them. One winter I went through and read all the stories that were interesting to me. The next winter I went through and read everything else I am a fan of SciFi and had an Aunt who was as well, every now and then she would ship me an entire box of books... those were good days We had a used book store in a nearby town that would do 3 for 2 book exchanges so I would go there with boxes of books and load up for winter.

I am a very fast reader with a good memory so I would go through books fast and I could never read a book more than once. Even today just reading the first paragraph is enough for me to know if I have already read a book.

Now I pretty much only buy a book if I am traveling for business or vacation. I do read a lot of news etc. online every day though and retain quite a bit. I'm the guys that's always saying "Hey, I was reading this article the other day...."

If you like old books there are lots on Project Gutenberg (Main Page - Gutenberg) for free. Many can be downloaded to various formats or ebook readers. You can also help put more books online at Distributed Proofreaders (DP: Welcome) ... something to do on those cold winter nights

[Western]

American history, to me is fascinating, all the misconceptions and lore. I like the 1800's probably the most, through ww11.

Had several opportunities when I was young to go to the Smithsonian Museum when we lived in Hagerstown MD for a spell. This place should be a "must see" for everyone. Civil war history is interesting and I have been fortunate to have visited allot of battlefields.

I think the most interesting thing is if you can find the history of your area, especially if your able to go to the exact spots, it is almost a religious experience.
Of course if your over 45 yoa, then you probably have a better sense of imagination since that's what you needed to keep occupied.

Funny I remember the 1st "color" tv i saw, figured we would be living on the moon by now. that was incredible, and I'm only 47..

[Bird]

I think I have only read 4 or 5 of his books. Seemed the humor dropped off a bit in later books

I guess the first time I never heard of McManus was when a friend told me about a book called "A Fine and Pleasant Misery" about 30 years ago, so I borrowed it at the library. I later bought a paperback copy. But I sat in the den reading that book in the evening and laughed until tears ran down my cheeks. My wife and daughters thought I'd lost my mind (maybe they were right). I've enjoyed his other books and found much to laugh about, but never as much as that first one.

American history, to me is fascinating

Me, too, and I love reading it. However, history was one of the toughest courses for me in school. I can remember what happened but have trouble with the who and when. Remembering names and dates was tough for me for some reason. Unlike many, if not most, people, I also read lots of books, but seldom remembered the authors' names.

One fascinating book, to me, is Glacier Pilot by Beth Day, a biography of Bob Reeve, that my mother gave to me in 1966 when he was still alive and running an airline in Alaska.

[charlz]

Originally Posted by Western

I think the most interesting thing is if you can find the history of your area, especially if your able to go to the exact spots, it is almost a religious experience.

I've had some recent experience with that. I always knew my Great Grandfather was from Idaho but nobody knew much past that. Thanks to the internet and the various genealogy sites earlier this year I learned that not only did my Great Grandfather live here before moving to Canada/Montana but my Great Great Grandfather supposedly lived and died in/near a mining ghost town that we have been riding our dirtbikes into for a few years I have since become quite interested in that counties history and trying to locate his grave in all the various cemeteries. So far no luck and all have many 'unknown' graves Also have been tracking where my Great Great Grandmother and the rest of their children went after he died. One is buried near an old town that was submerged when they built a dam and flooded a canyon in the 1920's not far from here in Eastern Oregon. Supposedly the only way in to visit the grave now is by boat but it looks like you also might make it there on a dirtbike or ATV.... that is on my list to explore/visit.

[blueriver]

BOOKS .... I barely have time to read a new chapter of TBN !!!

Actually, History is of interest to me... and all my owners manual's.

[Western]

Originally Posted by charlz

I've had some recent experience with that. I always knew my Great Grandfather was from Idaho but nobody knew much past that. Thanks to the internet and the various genealogy sites earlier this year I learned that not only did my Great Grandfather live here before moving to Canada/Montana but my Great Great Grandfather supposedly lived and died in/near a mining ghost town that we have been riding our dirtbikes into for a few years I have since become quite interested in that counties history and trying to locate his grave in all the various cemeteries. So far no luck and all have many 'unknown' graves Also have been tracking where my Great Great Grandmother and the rest of their children went after he died. One is buried near an old town that was submerged when they built a dam and flooded a canyon in the 1920's not far from here in Eastern Oregon. Supposedly the only way in to visit the grave now is by boat but it looks like you also might make it there on a dirtbike or ATV.... that is on my list to explore/visit.

That kind of stuff makes the world seem smaller, gives you a new frontier to discover.

[Egon]

Reading eh! Just about anything and everything for my whole life. One of my favorite pastimes.

Mostly use the library but in the small town here there is limited choice. Especially of the non fiction kind. But all is not lost as the INTERNET has lots of interesting information.

Only real problem I got is my aging eye sight. After an afternoons reading the darned lettering gets blurry and I got to stop.

Usually at least 4 or 5 books a week.