To add to the string Keith started;
"The Unfair Advantage" by Mark Donohue with Paul Van Valkenburgh. Great
racing inside stories from the '60s and early '70s. Traces his learning
curve on the set up of a race car along with the other tidbits.
Anything by Dick Francis ... but for me "Whip Hand" has to be a chiller
because of the premise of the book. All of his books have a horse link
because Francis used to be a jockey. Probably every one would be PG if it
were a movie (for violence) but that's all. Mild by today's standards.
Anything by Tony Hillerman. Set in the Four Corners country, Pretty simple
stories but good descriptions and some interesting twists. I've loved
stories about Southwest Indians as long as I can remember.
Three other authors are well represented on our book shelves; J. A Jance,
Clive Cussler and Sue Grafton. Jance writes about the Arizona border
country (and under another name about Seattle). Grafton writes about Santa
Barbara, although some of it is very thinly disguised, and Cussler is a car
collector who includes a car he personally owns in almost every book.
This is a shotgun approach but when I find an author I enjoy, I read
everything by that author. Like the Patricia Cornwell (sp.?) books, many
build on a previous book and it's worth going back to the earliest books in
order, just for the additional insight you get about the characters.
There was a series of Pocket Books called Comstock Editions that were
published in the sixties and seventies. All selected Western History books
by a wide variety of authors, all writing about the American West of the
1800's. I found the series fascinating. Much like the reading list for a
literature class, they were the cream of the writing from and about the time
and places. I bought every one I could find and cherish them, re-read them
about once every five years. I always find something from a new angle and
something that ties in with a place I've been or was interested in since the
last read.
About books on tape ... If you find one at the library, can you make a copy?
Not really legal, but nice to have if you can't hear the whole book before
it is due back at the local library. Salt Lake City just built a new Main
Library that will open February 8. Interesting from an architectural
standpoint, much larger than the one it replaces and they're expanding the
number of volumes by a huge amount. Can't wait. I've also found that the
music CD's give me a chance to hear some of the artists I'm not sure of and
wouldn't buy unless I could hear their music before buying.
Wes
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