This thread set me thinking yesterday - on that long ride into town in 92+ degree weather with no air-conditioner
'mumbling how overjoyed I am to great you Summer'
When I was very young my Mother (who was NOT a nurturer) took the bus downtown every other Saturday to the Library. She would always ask us - do you want a book? I would say yes yes yes please. What kind? And I'd tell her. She had the 'knack' of finding the PERFECT book every time. But, there was a catch you see... With one hand she would offer you YOUR book and with the other hand she would offer you HER choice for you. If you accepted this challenge you received both books and with my Mom it was the Honor System... take my word that she took that system very seriously. This challenge is why I was the only one of us that said yes yes yes please. I got my stubbornness from her you see, and I wanted my book.
Here are a few of HER choices for me. In no particular order. From the time I was six to the time I was twelve. There were many many more... but this is the general array of things. I do clearly remember the first book -- I was six. The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe.
The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe
Catch 22
A Clockwork Orange
When Harley Was One
The Hobbit
Brave New World
Fahrenheit 451
Skinny Legs and All
A Clock Work Orange
Atlas Shrugged
Gone With The Wind
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest
That's crazy aint it. I always said, "say what you want about Mama but despite her best efforts, the best of me came from her."