Featured What Book Series Did You Grow Up Reading?

Hardy Boys

The Three Investigators

Encyclopedia Brown


And today I still collect series books for some reason...

 

Yeah I think we pretty much all do!

I gave up my childhood books long ago though, was fortunate to sell them second hand online. And the ones I collected, I garaged saled!

 

I learned to read fairly early, at 4 years, (older siblings 7,8,10) at 6 I read my first real book "The Synthetic Man" aka "The Dreaming Jewels" by Theodore Sturgeon. By 7 years I had read every Asimov, Bradbury, Verne, Wells, and Clark book I could get my hands on. Books were like drugs for me, I couldn't get enough LOL.

 

Hi Tauriels,
You NEVER outgrow the habit. I'm in my 80s and I still read as much as I can. Now that the other half is home most of the time my reading has gone down. People just do not understand my compulsion for reading. My nephews have never read a book in their lives, it simply stuns me.
greg

 

I can't imagine a life without books, I don't read as much as I would like to, hopefully when I can't do much else I will still be able to read One thing I can look forward to when I get feeble I guess. It kills me when I hear that people have never read a book in their life!! It's like hearing they never left the county they live in, even for a day. I met a few of them when I lived in Idaho. LOL It must be like living in a two dimensional world!

 

Got this Three Investigators series book on Friday for a bargain price in my opinion. Not in collectable condition due to the cover but I didn't have this one in my collection and I'll use it as a reading copy. Thrilled to find it since the later books in this series are kind of scarce.

 

"I can't imagine a life without books, I don't read as much as I would like to, hopefully when I can't do much else I will still be able to read One thing I can look forward to when I get feeble I guess. It kills me when I hear that people have never read a book in their life!! It's like hearing they never left the county they live in, even for a day. I met a few of them when I lived in Idaho. LOL It must be like living in a two dimensional world!"

"A House Without Books is like a Room Without Windows" -Heinrich Mann

 

I remember having these read to me in school:

 

It's cover having a sticker on it? Not being sarcastic here - gathering information.

 

Not a book expert but on the right side of the cover there is a lot of chipping/flaking of the cover graphics which is quite noticeable. In this era of books (1980's) condition is a primary factor in collectability. What might be a $10-15 book becomes a $3-5 book if it is only considered a "reading" copy due to noticeable damage.

 

Ghopper, I was never a Lloyd Alexander fan myself, but my son was. I used to read Alexander's books to him until he was old enough to read them himself.

Did your teacher read you the whole Chronicles of Prydain series?

 

Okay, thanks! I see that now. And also now seeing that it might be in a plastic bag and the sticker is on that, not the book?

 

Oh thanks Zinnie! I just saw the plastic bag! I guess I just assumed someone was over zealous about the price to use that price sticker on a book!

I mean, since I've grown up having to cope with seeing that sort of behavior!!

 

I know what you mean - it's both good but often a curse that "older" items are now packaged to protect them but with the internet, they can't get away with over-charging like they used to. Or not recognizing the value and slapping a sticker in the middle. This looks to be a bargain though at less than a dollar!

 

I got the price sticker off without issue. At least the store didn't pull a Goodwill and write their prices in sharpie marker --- UGH!.

 

SBSVC, if I remember correctly she did read all of them to us. I've never read them again in the decades since, but as I remember they seemed magical.

I believe they've been made into videos as well.

 

I have never been a fan of fantasy fiction, but this series was one that I really didn't mind reading to my son. There was just something about Alexander's style that made them (almost...) a pleasure for me, and my son did indeed find them magical.

When my son was in 2nd grade, the first of the Harry Potter books came out. He heard about it and was SO looking forward to reading it. Halfway thru, he said, "That woman sure is verbose, isn't she?" (Yeah... he has always had quite a vocabulary!)

Anyway, for me, that showed one of the things that made Alexander stand out: he had a way of creating a fantasy world and getting his story - and message - across,
without a ton of "excess verbosity".

 

Well said! Good stuff indeed.

 

Or china marker where it works itself in, ie old wooden bowls. It's both a blessing and a curse that they now recognize how donations are worthy of a sticker instead but it also increases the chance of higher prices or having to bid on them. I haven't been to g'will for years now (I have enough and I don't sell) but last time there a young man in a white dress shirt was the manager. I couldn't help but think 'Okay, this is the end of finding really great stuff for not too much.' I don't begrudge them the money, it's just not as easy as it used to be to come away with a really nice 'find'. That said, I'm learning a lot here on acquiring a better 'eye' for things!

 

Hi,
I remember one thrift store with pure unadulterated nastiness. I had been going to the store twice a week for months. I was always picking up glassware and china. One day I looked at the floor in the back where they sold furniture. There was a really wonderful 3 ft by 5 ft Oriental rug. I asked the manager the price. He told me it was not for sale. I said I thought all of this stuff was for sale. He said no, the rug made a lot of small tables look good. Okay, I see. Two weeks later he was transferred to a different store. A week later I was in the store and noticed the rug was gone. I asked the new manager about the rug and she said it was pretty dirty so she had the guys cut it up and toss it in the trash. I was willing to pay 200 bucks for the rug. The store closed about two months later. The new manager raised all of the prices of even the cheap stuff so high that no one bought there anymore. The poor people who used to get clothes for a buck where now asked to pay 10 to 15 dollars. When I was buying there if something was 25 cents I always paid at a buck.
greg