1982

A year of thrillers and science fiction:

1. E.T., the Extra-Terrestrial Storybook by William Kotzwinkle, has only 27 owners (0 reviews), but the novel itself has 136 owners, 1 review.

2. "Space" by James Michener has 414 owners and 2 reviews.

3. The Parsifal Mosaic, a thriller by Robert Ludlum, has 343 owners, 3 reviews.

4. Master of the Game, a thriller by Sidney Sheldon has 261 owners, 3 reviews.

5. Mistral's Daughter, a romance by Judith Krantz has 111 owners and 2 reviews.

6. The Valley of Horses, a 'prehistoric novel' by Jean M. Auel has 1,481 owners, and 16 reviews. People like to hold on to Auel's books.

7. Different Seasons, horror novel by Stephen King, has 1,727 owners and 14 reviews. Another novelist with some staying power.

8. North and South, a Civil War novel by John Jakes, has 293 owners and 3 reviews. This is 1st part of a trilogy of the same name. There is a Victorian novel of the same name by Elizabeth Gaskell.

9. 2010: Odyssey Two, space (sciecne) fiction by Arthur C. Clarke has 1,411 owners and 7 reviews. 2001 space odyssey has 2,239 owners and 24 reviews.

10. The Man from St. Petersburg, a thriller by Ken Follett, has 254 owners and 1 review. His much more popular, Pillars of the Earth has 1,739 owners and 43 reviews.

Well, hooray -there's one on the list I've read! Oddly, Space is the only Michener book I ever took up.

The Man from St. Petersburg was a great read. I still remember THE MAN lifting his illegitimate daughter through the doorway out of the burning building and handing her over to her stepfather. Good scene. I didn't attempt North and South and found the TV adaptation somewhat cheesey, though Patrick Swayze was cute. I'm sure I read The Valley of Horses because if I recall correctly she did a series that deteriorated in quality over time. Sometimes you just have to know when to stop, though I'm sure she was well paid.

As for Jean Auel I thought Clan of the Cave Bear was great and the idea was wonderful. I was thrilled when Ayla broke the horse and discovered fire in The Valley of Horses. I started getting put off when Jondalar became the circuit stud, breaking in all the little girls. Then it got weirder when the Cro-Magnons began raping the Neanderthals. I barely finished The Mammoth Hunters and never started Plains of Passage.

Yes, I think I started the third one and gave it up after that.

My wife has five of Jean Auel's books. We keep them, but never look at them.

We both read the Odyssey series of Clarke.

My wife also has read a good deal of the John Jakes books.

Outside of fantasy and science fiction, I didn't start reading popular novels until long after she did. (Translation: I've read all of the Harry Potter books and two of Dan Brown's -- actually as I think about, these are all fantasy too.)

vpfluke If you want to experience a real classic that's fun to read try The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens. It's a real hoot and you will wonder if Dan Brown is even writing in the same language as Dickens.

...chiming in here to seek clarification about Dan Brown's relation to Pickwick Papers... "Pickwick" happens to be my all-time favorite novel; I read it every year. What on earth has Dan Brown's swiped-off-the-Internet-"conspiracy"-pages "work" got to do with it?

Dickens' language makes Dan Brown seem like gibberish.

Ah. Thanks.

Heh. You don't need to read Dickens (or any classical author) for that, geneg. (imho) My daughter was a better writer than Brown when she was in junior high, and she has no literary aspirations.

Believe it or not, I actually own The Pickwick Papers and didn't even know it. A 1944 International Collectors Edition (my wife bought in th 70's), but with a damaged binding, which declined further just now when I pulled it off the shelf. These look like linked stories. I vaguely remembering reading one of them in high school.

I opened up to a game of whist, a card game that people still played quite a bit in the town of my high school years (Mattapoisett, MA).

Bid Whist is the precursor to Contract Bridge.

vpfluke, if you've never read Pickwick Papers, do so! You'll laugh your a$$ off and come away wishing there was such a Society extant today. Marvelous, memorable characters, plus a palatable (and utterly Dickensian) mid-section diatribe about "that ass," The Law.

#

Didn't read "North and South" by John Jakes but did read his Kent Family Chronicles which I enjoyed.
Did Read "Space" by James Michener

I agree with Polite_Society
about the Pickwick Papers a pure joy to read, along with most of Dickens

Woo Hoo--up to 6 on this one: Space Michener is always good, Mistral's Daughter a woman's read, Valley of the Horses after Clan of the Cave Bear this was a disappointment, 2010: Odyssey Two a wonderful sci-fi series, The Man from St. Petersburg a good Follet suspense genre, Master of the Game was surprised to find this on my list (I gave up Sheldon many years ago finding them just trashy without much story line, imho).

US Non-Fiction

1. Jane Fonda's Workout Book, Jane Fonda 38 copies on LT

2. Living, Loving and Learning, Leo Buscaglia 175 copies

3. And More by Andy Rooney, Andrew A. Rooney 73 copies

4. Better Homes & Gardens New Cookbook 1,154 copies

5. Life Extension: Adding Years to Your Life And Life to Your Years--A Practical Scientific Approach, Durk Pearson and Sandy Shaw 27 copies

6. When Bad Things Happen to Good People, Harold S. Kushner 490 copies

7. A Few Minutes with Andy Rooney, Andrew A. Rooney 85 copies

8. The Weight Watchers Food Plan Diet Cookbook, Jean Nidetch 4 copies

9. Richard Simmons' Never-Say-Diet Cookbook, Richard Simmons 30 copies

10. No Bad Dogs: The Woodhouse Way, Barbara Woodhouse 80 copies

We have Leo Buscaglia's book and Harold Kushner's book also. We use to have the old Weight Watcher's Cookbooks, but no longer. I don't remember owning anything of Andy Rooney, just see him occasionally on CBS' 60 minutes.

Walkies! I haven't read any of these, but I remember the dog one.

I remember reading 2010 and seeing the movie, hoping to get some closure or explanation for 2001. Nope. Well, maybe some.

It was good, but I didn't enjoy the theme of Russians and Americans working together to peace on earth, etc. That was more editorial than novel writing. Too cheesy. A sequel to a book like 2001 is bound to disappoint.

I had some Andy Rooney books for a while and read them (in high school, I think). Now, I can't stand to see him on TV.

I own and have read When bad things happen to good people and I really like this book.

I've read 2010: Odyssey Two, and North and South.

Interesting that the non-fiction list doesn't contain a single history.

E.T. now has 345 owners. I would imagine that some good combining effort is responsible for the upward surge in owner numbers.

There was a time in the mid 80s when I read a lot of chick-fic which I bought cheap at the second hand or remaindered book shops: I lived in Pretoria and was probably trying to learn how to fit in with the other women there. I know I owned Mistral's Daughter but don't remember anything else about it.
Different Seasons is well written and my first exposure to King as a non-horror writer - pretty impressive, but i am a dyed in the wool horror fan and was disappointed.