What are you reading?

[J.J. Walters]

I'm not reading at the pace I used to, but I knocked off the first two Travis McGee books and am almost done with Neil Peart's (Rush drummer and lyricist) autobiographical travelogue, Ghost Rider.

The McGee books were good, fun reads. I like the societal/philosophical comments John D. McDonald drops into Travis' thoughts. Good stuff and it seems things really haven't changed all that much from the early 60s.

The Neil Peart book intrigued me when I saw Rush Behind the Music. The poor man lost his 19 year old daughter to a car accident and then his wife to cancer (broken heart really) in a 10 month period. The book is about how he soothed, and saved, his "little baby soul" like one would any fussy child, movement. He motorcycled from the Toronto area of Canada north and west to Alaska, then south. Not along the coast but further inland in the eastern Washington, Idaho, Nevada, Utah areas, into Cali then the Mexican Baja and finishing in Belize.

The whole time he's describing the scenery he sees, how he feels, what and who he experiences along the way and how it slowly heals him. An amazing journey of both the body and the soul and the saving of both.

If you plan on reading more of the Travis McGee books I'd highly recommend reading them in order (or close to it anyway -- you can skip a few here and there). It's fascinating to follow Trav as he makes his way through life, from the end of the Kennedy years, to Nixon, Carter and then the Reagan years. From 60's counterculture, to the crazy 70's, and the new wave 80's... Trav is there, foiling villains and impressing the ladies all at the same time. The knight errant! And MacDonald does a great job of slowly adding in information about the character as the series progresses. It's one of the great book series of all-time if you ask me. Kurt Vonnegut famously said this about John D. -- "To diggers a thousand years from now . . . the works of John D. MacDonald would be a treasure on the order of the tomb of Tutankhamen."

I've read Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road also! A GREAT book! I'm also a big Rush fan. He's an inspirational person (and one hell of a good drummer).

[Little Garwood]

I've gone strictly highbrow with my most recent reading. These issues of The Fantastic Four from 1979 made a significant impact on young me and I believe time has been most kind to this largely-forgotten epic. It introduced Terrax the Terrible and featured the greatest knock-down fight between planet-destroying giants ever witnessed on (quickly-yellowing) comic book paper...



...but thankfully it's now on a nice hardcover edition--In Search of Galactus, which has improved, vivid coloring.

[ConchRepublican]

Hey! Another comic fan!!! I have this on my nightstand now:

[Little Garwood]

I grew up reading those Miller-Janson Daredevil comics and I still have my original issues. They're among the best comic stories ever written, in my opinion. Plus that Miller-Janson artwork is practically symbiotic.

Perhaps a proper comic book thread is in order.

[Steve]

Comics, the Betty vs Veronica controversy still shapes my life!!!!!

[J.J. Walters]

I'm re-reading The Lord of the Rings right now (for the 5th time... 6th time, I can't remember).

I recently found a complete set of the first edition Ballantine paperbacks from 1965 in decent condition at a used book store. These were the first authorized paperbacks released (after the infamous Ace pirated editions), the ones that launched The Lord of the Rings into the stratosphere! In the same haul, I also found the first paperback edition of The Hobbit and The Tolkien Reader (both also Ballantine from 1966). In all my used book store travels, I've very rarely come across these (and then they are usually in pretty bad shape). Usually the earliest editions of LotR you'll see are the Ballantine second editions from 1973. I can't believe I found these in the wild, just sitting there! I'm so excited to have these on my shelf!

[308GUY]

Terrific find! Congratulations.

Paperback or not, those are collectibles to be sure....at least in my humble opinion. Those look exactly like the ones I originally read back in the early 70's....wish I knew where they were now!

Condition looks nearly pristine, if you're pictures are an indicator.

Good show!

[ConchRepublican]

I'm re-reading The Lord of the Rings right now (for the 5th time... 6th time, I can't remember).

I recently found a complete set of the first edition Ballantine paperbacks from 1965 in decent condition at a used book store. These were the first authorized paperbacks released (after the infamous Ace pirated editions), the ones that launched The Lord of the Rings into the stratosphere! In the same haul, I also found the first paperback edition of The Hobbit and The Tolkien Reader (both also Ballantine from 1966). In all my used book store travels, I've very rarely come across these (and then they are usually in pretty bad shape). Usually the earliest editions of LotR you'll see are the Ballantine second editions from 1973. I can't believe I found these in the wild, just sitting there! I'm so excited to have these on my shelf!

That is fantastic! I loved The Lord of the Rings, probably my all time favorite series of books.

Have you ever read Eddings Belgariad or Philip Jose Farmer's Riverworld series? Two other classics IMHO.

[Doc Ibold]

I'm re-reading The Lord of the Rings right now (for the 5th time... 6th time, I can't remember).

I recently found a complete set of the first edition Ballantine paperbacks from 1965 in decent condition at a used book store. These were the first authorized paperbacks released (after the infamous Ace pirated editions), the ones that launched The Lord of the Rings into the stratosphere! In the same haul, I also found the first paperback edition of The Hobbit and The Tolkien Reader (both also Ballantine from 1966). In all my used book store travels, I've very rarely come across these (and then they are usually in pretty bad shape). Usually the earliest editions of LotR you'll see are the Ballantine second editions from 1973. I can't believe I found these in the wild, just sitting there! I'm so excited to have these on my shelf!

Whoa! Those are the same ones my dad has on the "rainy day" shelf at the cabin. I didn't know they were rare!

[308GUY]

Have you read Tolkien's "Silmarillion" yet?

http://www.amazon.com/Silmarillion-Pre- ... 0345325818

[J.J. Walters]

I'm not exactly sure how are they would be today, but they are not easy to find in used book stores. I'm sure I could get them online from secondary sellers, but I very rarely buy books that way. I almost always buy them at used book stores. The Ballantine first edition paperbacks were printed between 1965 and 1972 (when they were replaced with the second edition Ballantine's). I'm not sure how many copies of the Ballantine first editions were published. The only figure I can find is "32 million [Ballantine] copies of the Rings books from 1965 to 2001." The first editions would be a fraction of that total, but it's gotta be up there. The thing is though, most of those copies are either gone (thrown out) or in bad shape. So yeah, Doc, make sure your Dad doesn't throw them out!

Interesting story about the Ballantine first edition paperbacks. The cover artist, Barbara Remington, never read the books before she painted the cover art. Her practice was to always read the books before she did the artwork, but Ballantine was in such a rush to put out the first authorized paperbacks (in response to the pirated Ace books), they didn't give her enough time to read them. She talked to a few people who had read them and off she went. The paperback Hobbit initially had a lion in it. This irritated Tolkien so much that they airbrushed it out from the 6th printing on.

Have you read Tolkien's "Silmarillion" yet?

Absolutely! I read it with my copy Karen Wynn Fonstad's The Atlas of Middle Earth right next to me, along with The Book of Lost Tales and Unfinished Tales. I don't have any of Christopher Tolkien's History of the Middle Earth series, but plan to get them someday.

[ConchRepublican]

Have you read Tolkien's "Silmarillion" yet?

Absolutely! I read it with my copy Karen Wynn Fonstad's The Atlas of Middle Earth right next to me, along with The Book of Lost Tales and Unfinished Tales. I don't have any of Christopher Tolkien's History of the Middle Earth series, but plan to get them someday.

I still, after three tries, have yet to make it through the Silmarillion.

[Little Garwood]

I haven't read the Lord of the Rings books since early junior high school (and I wasn't really a big fan anyway), but my childhood came back with a Proustian rush when JJ posted those book covers; they made me think of the LoTR books I had:



Heck, I even remember the bookstore where I first saw them (long-since closed down)

[J.J. Walters]

Cool, LG! Those are the Ballantine third edition paperbacks (1981-1984). That edition was my very first copy of LotR! I believe Ballantine is now up its eleventh edition of LotR. Each edition has different covers. The other classic LotR paperback edition is the Ballantine second edition (1973).

I still, after three tries, have yet to make it through the Silmarillion.

Yeah, it can be a tough read. So many names, places, races and gods to keep track of! The Atlas of Middle Earth really helped me when I first read it way back in the day.

[ConchRepublican]

Cool, LG! Those are the Ballantine third edition paperbacks (1981-1984). That edition was my very first copy of LotR! I believe Ballantine is now up its eleventh edition of LotR. Each edition has different covers. The other classic LotR paperback edition is the Ballantine second edition (1973).

I still, after three tries, have yet to make it through the Silmarillion.

Yeah, it can be a tough read. So many names, places, races and gods to keep track of! The Atlas of Middle Earth really helped me when I first read it way back in the day.

Those are the editions I had.

I have since gotten leather bound editions of LoTR, Hobbit and Silmarillion . . . I'm a book guy.

One day I hope to make it through, I just wonder if it's time is passed and I'll never have that time and focus again.