In the beginning...

...there were The Flyaways, a family who traveled in their miraculous flying machine having daring adventures with Goldilocks and Cinderella. The first in the 3-book series by Alice Dale Hardy was published by Grosset and Dunlap in 1925 and copies are almost extinct. Few people remember Ma and Pa, Tommy and Susie Flyaway now.

I became acquainted with them on my grandfather's lap, my dear Grandpa Baker who read and read and read to me every evening for as many years as I can remember. I would hold my breath as each chapter ending neared, hoping he would not stop. I would keep begging for "just one more" chapter until his voice got so hoarse I would have to run to his room to get his throat lozenges.

Over the years we covered all of Uncle Wiggly and Honey Bunch, the Bobbsey Twins, the Five Little Peppers, the Wind in the Willow series, some of them more than once. He read to me until long after I could read everything for myself, until I was into Beverly Gray, Trixie Belden, Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys. I was safe and happy snuggled up on the couch with him and that feeling has never left me. I still read and read and read, and it still makes me feel safe and happy.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Something worth reviewing

Yes, yes, at last a book worth writing about - The First Rule by Robert Crais. I love Joe Pike and Elvis Cole and they have help in this one from Jon Stone, also a good character. Pike is out for revenge when his old mercenary friend Frank Meyer is murdered in his own home with his entire family. Altho he has not seen Frank in twelve years, the old loyalties are strong. The story leads to a complex web of intrigue which involves a Serbian mob, a kidnapped baby, a shipment of illegal guns and the mystery man responsible for the deaths, villain Michael Darko. The action is fast and Pike is superb, as always, and demonstrates an usual tenderness for the kidnapped boy. After two months of mediocre reading, finally a good one.

I just remembered Rainwater by Sara Dallas which I did read earlier this year and loved. It was a memorable book about a single mother in the 1930s who takes in a remarkable boarder who changes her life and the life of her autistic son.