Dean Koontz ~ [Talk about] ~ 4/00 ~ Horror Export

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Critics have dubbed Dean Koontz as Stephen King's "uncool younger brother."
But that hasn't stopped his fans from making Koontz a 12-time best-selling author with such chart-topping suspense titles as "Phantoms," "Seize the Night," "Fear Nothing" and "Intensity." The New York Times has called his writing "psychologically complex, masterly and satisfying." The New Orleans Times-Picayune said Koontz is, "at times lyrical without ever being naive or romantic. [He creates] a grotesque world, much like that of Flannery O'Conner or Walker Percy...scary, worthwhile reading." Of Cold Fire, a worldwide #1 bestseller, the United Press International said, "An extraordinary piece of fiction. It will be a classic." Fear, compassion, evil, courage, hope, wonder, the exquisite terror of not knowing what will happen to the characters you care about deeply--these are the marvels that Dean Koontz weaves into the unique tapestry of every novel. His storytelling talents have earned him the devotion of fans around the world, making him one of the most popular authors of our time.

"This odd itinerary of scenes--enigmatic, strange,unreal--leaves us unsure how to feel. No postmortem journey is rife with more mystery than life.".........Book of Counted Sorrows
Discussion Leaders: Lorrie and Bill H.

Click HERE to read about the real horror of Koontz's childhood
Pick a title, or two or three, and pull up a chain, I mean chair, and let's talk!
Everyone is welcome, even the faint-hearted!

False Memory
Seize the Night
Intensity
Phantoms
Servants of Twilight
Whispers
Dark Rivers of the Heart
Mr. Murder
Hideaway
Bad Place

Hi, all you horror fans! Pull up a chair and let's talk a little bit about this guy Dean Koontz and all these books he's written. You'd think a person who writes so continuously about the dark corners of the mind would be in a padded cell somewhere, pulling his hair out, but that 's not the case here. Koontz and his wife live a very happy life out in southern California, and yet his own childhood may have influenced the tenor of some of the books he has written. More bout that later. First, which one is your favorite? And why did you like it more than any of the others?

Lorrie

 

I am not very familiar with Dean Koontz’s books, but after hearing so much about them, 
and reading a passage of one of his books ,I’m going to read some of them. Maybe I just 
found a new story teller! 

I did read a short excerpt from his latest story “False Memory.” This was via the courtesy 
of aol’s My Calendar’s Events Directory (books) that I explained in an earlier post. What I 
read sounded quite good. 

“False Memory” received very good reviews, excellent ones. But the one from Library 
Journal  intrigued me. Now,  I must digress and take this rather long review a little out of 
context, although the quote will be verbatim:  “ Koontz’s latest novel should please his 
long time fans but probably not newcomers....”  And, now, I’m wondering why. Again 
from the Library Journal:  “Though it is not great Koontz, good Koontz, it is still better 
than most....” I’ll have to rely on some of you Koontz readers  for an answer to that. 
However, since it was recently released, I imagine I’ll have to wait till you have read it.

I would really like to read what some of you avid Deane Koontz fams think of some of the stories the titles of which Lorrie listed in the marquee. They sounded very intresting to me. Thanks Lorrie.

But I'm sure there's a lot of Koontz fans out there in Cyber space that we never hear from. Dont wory about spelling or punctuations in your post. Just take a look at mine. I can really murder the King's English. And when it comes to punctuation, HA, I just put them in to make things look good. You've probably guessed that by now.

So,come on all, join in and let's have some fun.

Great, Bilsom! To tell the truth, I just picked up a Koontz book at random from our library downstairs in this building where I live, one night when I couldn't sleep, and I happened to get "Dark Rivers of the Heart." Well, after I started reading that book I really couldn't sleep---I couldn't put it down.

I'm sure you'll like "False Memory" even though it's said to be a little less readable than some of his others.

Lorrie

 

Other Koontz books recommended by a reviewer were LIGHTNING  (the reviewers  
favorite) then INTENSITY, FEAR NOTHING  and SEIZE THE NIGHT.  Others were 
mentioned --too many for here--so I’ll have to rely on you, loyal “bookers,” for picking 
me a good one to read.  Maybe we could have our own “review.” That would be fun.

Bilsom, why is the printing of your posts so awful? The words are running way off the page to the right, but maybe it's my computer. Are you using a different type style?

Lorrie, Bill is using the <pre> command? That command will take your text from wherever you have it and reproduce it exactly. It's especially nice for poetry or lists because it saves you the endless insertion of the <br>

However it's really not necessary unless a person just particularly wants to use it, for instance, here's Bill's post with the <pre> command:



Other Koontz books recommended by a reviewer were LIGHTNING  (the reviewers 
favorite) then INTENSITY, FEAR NOTHING  and SEIZE THE NIGHT.  Others were
mentioned --too many for here--so I’ll have to rely on you, loyal “bookers,” for picking
me a good one to read.  Maybe we could have our own “review.” That would be fun.

And here it is without:

Other Koontz books recommended by a reviewer were LIGHTNING (the reviewers favorite) then INTENSITY, FEAR NOTHING and SEIZE THE NIGHT. Others were mentioned --too many for here--so I’ll have to rely on you, loyal “bookers,” for picking me a good one to read. Maybe we could have our own “review.” That would be fun.

Here is a list with the pre command:

 ---Author's Corner (316 messages, 1 new) 
 ---Book Exchange (1445 messages) 
 ---Books Into Movies (513 messages, 1 new) 
 ---Books Previously Read by SeniorNet Book Clubs (1 new message) 
 ---Books Wanted (211 messages) 
 ---Cat Who... The Series (126 messages, 2 new) 
 ---Classic Children's Literature Revisited (105 messages) 
 ---Computer Books - PC and Mac (127 messages) 
 ---Great Books Upcoming! (775 messages) 
 ---Home on the Range (108 messages) 
 ---Horror - Dean Koontz (6 messages) 
 ---Internet Book Related Sites (96 messages) 
 ---Mystery Corner (1233 messages) 
 ---Poetry (1148 messages) 
 ---Prized Fiction - Prize Winners/Nominees (158 messages) 
 ---Retirement Communities for

And here it is without:

---Author's Corner (316 messages, 1 new) ---Book Exchange (1445 messages) ---Books Into Movies (513 messages, 1 new) ---Books Previously Read by SeniorNet Book Clubs (1 new message) ---Books Wanted (211 messages) ---Cat Who... The Series (126 messages, 2 new) ---Classic Children's Literature Revisited (105 messages) ---Computer Books - PC and Mac (127 messages) ---Great Books Upcoming! (775 messages) ---Home on the Range (108 messages) ---Horror - Dean Koontz (6 messages) ---Internet Book Related Sites (96 messages) ---Mystery Corner (1233 messages) ---Poetry (1148 messages) ---Prized Fiction - Prize Winners/Nominees (158 messages) ---Retirement Communities for

So you can see it's an option up to the participant!

Ginny

Lorrie,

Ginny is right. I was using the pre command. Instead of ju st using the p for paragraph. I only realized this after I turned off the computer. I realized that just for paragrph breaks when working off line it's not necessary,in fact it is just plain awfull for posting pre off-line text.

Lorrie,if my pre post run off the page, just use the mouse to spread the page. You can do this with both sides of the page.

Just move the cursor to the extreme either side of the page untill it turns into a two way arrow and then while holding the "clicker" down spread the page by pulling the arrow to the right for the right side or to the left for the left side

But I'm not going to use the "pre" command when working off-line. I don't like it either.

However, Ginny did point out that at times it can be a usefull tool.

Yipes, where did everybody go? I know one thing--I think that list of Koontz's books up above is way too long! Let's try to shorten it up a little to some of his most recent books, and maybe it won't scare people off!

Lorrie

No pun intended huh lorrie? SCARED .. Nah, let's scare them in. I loved Mr. Murder and INTENSITY the best of all his books. For some reason had a problem geting into the last two. Which ones will you be discussing her, Lorrie? Or are you going to just discuss Mr. Koontz?

Hi, Alf: No one book in particular, but I'm sure people have favorites by this author. For instance, I'm re-reading one of my favorite Koontz books--Did you ever read it? I love that cowardly dog! "Dark Rivers of the Heart." Kuntz's childhood was almost as traumatic as some of his stories, I've been reading his biography, and it's a dilly! More about that later!

Lorrie

"All of us are travelers lost,
our tickets arranged at a cost
unknown but beyond our means.
This odd itinerary of scenes
--enigmatic, strange, unreal--
leaves us unsure how to feel.
No postmortem journey is rife
with more mystery than life."

Have you noticed that the preface of every one of Koontz's books has a quote from "The Book of Counted Sorrows?" So many people asked the author for the source of this poetry that he finally had to admit he wrote it himself!

To understand Dean Koontz, you first have to understand his father, a sociopath who rarely held a job and flew into a rage at a moment's notice, smacking his wife and breaking furniture. "He'd usually come home drunk," says Koontz, "and the drunker he was, the angrier he got. If he came up the driveway really fast with gravel flying, and you'd hear bonk, bonk, bonk on the horn, that's when my mother would usher me into my room, close the door, and say, 'Don't come out.'" Not surprisingly, the roots of his plot reach into his own past. Koontz grew up in Bedford, Pa., the only child of Florence Koontz, a salesclerk who died in 1969, and her husband, Ray, a salesman who rarely held a job more than a few months. ''We were always on the edge of destitution, and my father was a violent drunk,'' says Koontz. ''You have nowhere to go when you grow up in a household like that.''

Good Heavens, with a childhood like that, no wonder the guy writes horror stories.

Lorrie

Good heavens indeed, thank you for telling us that, Lorrie, it's amazing how many people live with that, too, that rings a bell about another book we read where the children were locked away also.

I always thought Koontz was King in nom de plume. I realize that he has a different picture on the cover but the writing is SO similar, but I always detect a little bit of the victim in the Koontz. He starts out with a bang usually, and the reader is just jerked along suspencefully but usually out of control.

I usually read one of his till the character feels a bit more in control, that doesn't happen much and I don't read too many of his, now I can see where he's coming from!

Poor man. Poor us, really, to have a whole society full of such happenings.

Those of you who DO finish his books, do the characters triumph in the end over whatever circumstances they find themselves in or not?

Ginny

Yes, Ginny, I believe they do. In the books I've read so far, at least good seems to triumph over evil, and I'm enough of a Pollyanna t like that. I'm fascinated by some of the things I'm learning about Koontz's childhood. For instance, his ambitious novel Dark Rivers of the Heart, certainly fits a pattern. While it offers the usual crowd-pleasing Koontz fare, such as a suspenseful chase and well- researched technical details, it also delves into the more ominous side of a relationship between a psychopathic father and his fugitive son.

Lorrie

Maybe we ought to read one as a group, Lorrie, those of us who don't know that much Koontz could learn and try to see the author underneath the prose.

Something without torture in it, victimization is not my thing.

Ginny

Hello, oh fair and gentle lady readers. and hello to the men readers too--I hope we have some. Today was my lucky day. After I had the auto serviced, I thought I would browse the local B&N for some bargan books and lo and behold I found one.

The path I followed was thus: > B&N > bargan books dept.> books for 5-dollars > Dean Koontz

Intensity > HARD COVER!!1
I compared this price with the paper back edition in the horror section. It’s price $7.99. I thought, horrors, I can't go wrong must buy this book even if it’s just for the price. In one of the reviews I read, and I posted earlier on this, the critic who is a dyed in the wool Koontz fan picked this one as her second best all-time favorite. Sooo, I’ll have to read it now just to see if her raves were on the mark and see how he compares with the KING!! But I must add I’ll have to it read along with Peter Struab’s “Mystery/” I find “Mystery” a slow moving, very boring book. I’ll be so glad when I finish.

There was a picture of Koontz on the inside of the jacket (Intensity) and he reminded me of Rocky Blier. Now here’s a man well worth mentioning. I know I digress, but Blier was severely wounded in Viet Nam and was told he would never walk again. But the doctors didn’t know how big a heart Blier had. He not only walked again, he played football in the NFL as a terrific running back for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the 1970s fame. Heart, heart, heart. All this because I thought Koontz resembled him. If Dean Koontz is as good at writing as Blier was in over coming his adversities. Then Koontz is sooooom writer. So there!!!

Isn't it great to get a bargain? I love to find a good book at a bargain, and I have three Kooz books on offer at the Exchange just for the Book Rate postage: Icebound, Lightning, and Dark Rivers of the Heart. All three are paperbackand parobably would total about $1.75 book rate for the entire package delivered to your door. Check the Exchange for great Koontz bargains!

That's a great Blier story, is that in a book, Bill? I'd like to read that one, I saw the other day where a person with a chip implanted walked again, I think that's fabulous.

People were harsh on Christopher Reeve for his commercial but I saw it as one of hope and I hope he walks again, too. As well as all the others.

Ginny

I am not sure, Ginny, but I think there is a book or movie called the "Rocky Blier Story?" I think there is. I'll search around and see if I can find out for you. I found this out by following his career in the sports pages.

Rocky Blier gives many thanks to Art Rooney Sr., the deceased owner and founder of the franchise, for having faith enough in him to give him a chance to play for the Steelers. Dan Rooney now owns the franchise. A great, great family.

Ginny, I e-mailed one of the local sports writers and he was kind enough to tell me the name of the Rocky Blier story that you inquired about. It's called "Fighting Back."

I'm still impressed with the poetry found at the beginning of every chapter of Koontz's books, that he calls the "Book of Counted Sorrows." Here's one I thought was particularly lovely.

"Under the winter moon's pale light,
across the cold and starry night,
from snowy mountains soaring high
to ocean shores echoes the cry.
From barren sands to verdant fields,
from city street to lonely wealds,
cries the tortured human heart,
seeking solace, wisdom, a chart
by which to understand its plight
under the winter moon's pale light.
Dawn is unable to fade the night.
Must we live ever in the blight
under the winter moon's cold light,
lost in loneliness, hate, and fright,
last night, tonight, tomorrow night
under the winter moon's bleak light?

Lorrie

I started reading Intensity. It seems to be a very fast paced novel, so different from Mystery by P. Straub (thank goodness.

How many of you D. Koontz fans have read this book and how do you rate the novel compared to some of his other books?

Bilsom: I have read nearly all of the Koontz books and Intensity remains one of my favorites. Why? I couln't say. It has passion and ardour, I guess. right away you are caught up and whirled into a frenzy. I love stories that can zip me away like that.

I've got three, yes, three! books going here. I read a little of one, than another, and so on. But the one that's the hardest for me to put down in Koontz's" Dark Rivers of the Heart." It's a great book, and I love that cowardly dog!

Lorrie

Halaluya, Halaluya, Halaluya.

I have been babtised for the second time in my life. Marcie canged my name from Bilsom and babtised me Bill H. I know my sainted mother, who I know is heaven, will always hold Marcie in high regard for restoring my name to me

Bill

Alf, Yea, that's right. I got cought up in Intensity right away. I think it was due to that fast automobile ride I got on the opening pages. If the book moves along that fast all the way thru, I'll have to fasten my seat belt.

Hey, Alf, Thank goodness for air bags!!

I just finished Dark Rivers of the Heart, and it was really a good read! I'm embarking now on one of Koontz's early books, one he wrote under the name of Brian Coffey. Looks like a good one!

Lorrie, What did you think of Intensity?

I'm finishing up reading Mystery by Straub. For me, it was a waste of time.

Hi, Bill! I hate to make this admission, but Intensity was one of the few Koontz novels I didn't read!! And you know what? I wasn't that crazy about Mystery, either. Did you ever read Straub's Ghost Story? It was terrific, and they made a movie from it with a superb cast!

Lorrie

Lorrie, "Intensity" starts out very fast moving. Alf told me to hang on and I said I'll fasten my seat belt.

I saw the movie "Ghost Story" with Fred Astair, Melvin Douglas and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. I really thought the movie was quite good. But after reading "Mystery" I'm a little gun-shy of his other writings.

With Fred Astair in that movie,I kept expecting Ginger Rodgers to come dancing out at any time.HA!HA!

Bill

One gets the feeling that coffey (Koontz) et. al. AKAs struggle to say something important-- quickly!!! When I read Koontz, I always feel the flying, fleeting, harried tempo. I wonder if that is his internal reflection.

Alf, i know what you mean. Unlike some thrillers that can proceed at a more leisurely pace (good Heavens, look at how stephen King plodded along in The Stand, for instance!) Koontz seems to want to get to the climax quickly. He dows it well without losing any of the suspense, I think.

Lorrie

I remember reading "Hideaway" and being frightened as I read it.

That was unusual for me. Perhaps there is something akin to it , in my other lives that I have experienced. :-0 yikes! I like fast and quick (reading) for entertainment and this author fits the bill. My brain, as swiss cheese, is faltering rapidly. ARE we going to read his new book here? I've forgotten.

I might as well jump in...I have every Koontz book there is -except the latest because it is not yet in paperback. My favourite book is the Watchers in great part because of the wonderful dog character Einstein, a brain augmented Golden Retriever who communicates using scrabble blocks.

The spookiest book to me is Midnight...the people who grow into their computers (or is it vice versa?) are creepy. After reading that one thinks twice of sitting close to a computer...for a little while anyways.

Other books I like are: Phantoms, Strangers, and Tic Toc; the last because it is amusing rather than scary.

Well, Nellie, i can see you're a true Koontz fan. He must really like dogs--several of the dogs in his books have characters all their own, and i can sense a rapport there. Probably because I'm a dog-lover myself.

Lorrie

Hey, Nellie, I'm counting on you telling me about these different books. No kiddn, I'd like to hear about some of them.

You know, after reading "Mystery," It's like being on a flying carpet reading "Intensity."

It's true King went in to great detail when he wrote the "Stand," but he had to. It was an epoch. Unlike Straubs Mystery all the "Stand" characters had depth and meaning to them. Who could ever forget that villian FLAG and all that he did. Oh, well, thats another story and another author.

Don't forget Nellie. I'm new to Koontz and I would like hearing more about his stories

One reader said she read FALSE MEMORY in just three-days. How sad. I don’t like to read a good book in so short a time. Not that I’m a slow reader; it’s just that I look upon a good book like a good friend. And I never like to end a good friendship too soon. Three-days and it woul be like “Johnny, we never got to know you.” When I find myself galloping along, I’ll reign in and go back and reread some very interesting parts. This will shock some of you but, on a good book, and I’m talking about a real good book, I like to spend a week or two with my “friend.”

This is more a general observation. Have you noticed that the horror in many of Koontz's books stems from the misuse of technology or scientific knowledge?

Bill, I usually read any book by Koontz fast the first time because I have to know what happens next until I reach the end. Then I read it again much more slowly a couple of months later and catch more of the detail.

Nellie, that's a good idea,reading fast the first time, then re-reading it again. But I like to keep my self in suspense till the end.

I'm new to Koontz' books. My favorite horror stories are books by Stephen King. Did you ever read any of his works?

Bill

Ohhh Bill. Don't ya just love that "flying carpt=et " movement with Koontz?

Oh Nellie: Tic-Tock I forgot about that one? I wish I still had these books so I could conjure up a memory of them from last year. How about Mr. Murder? (is that right--Mr?) I remember that one. Nellie you ar right! a great deal of technology skills here in these novel. Do you think Koontz is trying to get us into cyberspace understanding here with all of the technological jargon?

Nellie and Alf, you two really know Koontz. You talk about these books the way I talk about the King books. I gave a lot of my books away, Alf. I usually donate them to a local nursing home. The folks there don't have much else to do but read and play some type of Bingo game

Last week I finished "Mystery." (Straub)I can't believ he would write such a shallow story and so corny.

BILL: What are you trying to do? Scare the living --- out of these elderly nursing home folks? That oughtta keep 'em lively.

No kidding, Alf, Bill and i were just talking about doing a discussion here in the Horror folder of Stephen King's books. I think we ve just about heard all we're going to about Dean Koontz, so we can move on to other horror authors. Anyone have any objections or enthusiasm about doing King? I know he has a lot of loyal fans out there.

Lorrie

It would be nice to do King. But I think ther's a lot of people who could really talk about Koontz.

ALF, I sure hope I didn't stir things up. I don't want the nursing home folks down on me. My aunt was in a nursing home for 4-or5-years and they all seemed like a good bunch.

Bill H

Bill, you asked about Watchers? Here is a short bit about the book. The story begins with one Travis Cornell going on a trip to the Santiago Canyon area and while hiking on a deer trail he is stopped from going further by a scruffy looking golden retriever that is trying to keep him away from...something terrible..."He wanted to see what the thing was, but at the same time he had gone cold with dread, a purely instictive fear." With that begins a thrill ride of a story. We don't get to see the beast that terrifies Travis until much later in the book; it and the dog come from the same place, from a top secret government lab.

My second favorite book is Midnight in which the folks living in Moonlight Cove become genetically altered creatures based on their own desires and emotions through the machinations of Shaddack a brilliant but totally amoral scientist who believes that science should benefit only him and not the common people. This is a creepy and very good book.

This is great. Dean Koontz is still attracting readers, I see. Why not? His books are fabulous. Does anyone else feel that Koontz , in each book, is giving a message about something that he feels strongly about? I noticed that in Dark Rivers of the Heart where he emphasized the uneven justice of the Drug Enforcement Agency's high-handed seizure of property, etc.

lORRIE

I sure didn't know this folder was here. I have read just about all of the Koontz books, started many years ago. The first was "Watchers" and have been hooked on him ever since. I am now waiting to get my hands on his latest. I have to admit they are a very fast read for me but I will read sometimes a whole day depending on the book and if I really have to do something. I sure do wish I could remember the ones I didn't like as they are few. He even wrote a short story collection but the title escapes me as I loaned to someone who left it behind when he changed jobs.

Carolee: I haven't read Koontz's False Memory yet, but the reviews on it are terrific! My only complaint is that i wish these book dealers would try harder to get some of these books out in paperback. Many of us find it a bit hard to pay $25 or so for a book, and if your area is like mine, the list of reserved at the library is horrendously long!

lorrie

Lorrie it is the same here the library gets maybe two books but have to wait so long it makes me mad. I too don't pay big bucks for the books I wait for the paperback if I do buy one. I haven't read False Memory either but I am waiting. It seems to take about a year for the paperbacks to come out and then I go to Sam's Club and can pick them up for around $4.00 much cheaper than the other stores.

Carolee: As one cheapskate to another, thank you for the info about buying books at low prices. There's a Sam's Club not too far from here and I'll look into it.

Did you have any particular favorite among all Koontz's books?

Lorrie

p.s. My co-leader in this discussion, Bill, and I were thinking about doing a discussion on Stephen King, focusing more on the writer than any particular one of his books. How do you feel about him?

Nellie, Those two books you mentioned sound very good especially "Watchers." I think I would really like to read that. "Midnight" sounds good, too. It reminds me of a Sci-fi movie i once seen.

Bill H

Carollee and Lorrie, I'm so glad you told me about Sams Club selling books so cheap. There's one not to far from me that I Zip right past on my why to B&N.

I, too, only buy paper-backs. I did get a bargain on a hard back- "Intensity"-$5-dollars + tax. I used to belong to the Literary Guild but discontinued after books shot sky high. Again thanks for the tip about Sams Club.

Question do I have a favorite boy oh boy that will take some thinking as I have read almost all, I will go out to my garage where most of them are stored and have a look see. Good thing I still have most of them yet as they are promised to a college girl. About King I have never been able to stay with any of his they are so wordy and seem to take a long time to get anywhere. But have read some about his life, so would probably chime in when I had something to offer.

Hey, carolee! I burst out laughing when you said you had to go out to your garage to check on some books. Now that's a true fan, when you have so many books that you run out of room in your house and have to move some of them into your garage! Good for you!!

Lorrie My favorite was Dark Rivers of the Heart. Did you read that one?

We won't be talking about Stephen King the author for a few days yet, so feel free to mention Koontz all you want.

I have so many books that I carry some in the trunk of my car for my friends, and others are stored in an old picnic cooler, we meet on Tuesday afternoons and discuss a lot of authors. I am a bookmobile. Every so often I will give them to a member of the American Legion and he takes them to the Vets, either the hospitals or the nursing homes. We read all sorts of mysteries also.

So glad I gave you a good laugh

carollee: John van Druten wrote a famous book called,"I Am a Camera," and I can see our next Book Club choice: a new novel by CAROLLEE, called " I am a Bookmobile!" hahaha

Lorrie

Lorie... John Van Druten, don't think I have read any by him but did take note of him and will look one day next week at the library. I can just see that novel.. haha. When I am famous there will be a caption in the newspaper all about the day a famous author was stoped by the local police they searched her car and it was full of books. She was kept in the police lock-up untill her story was verified.

All kidding aside I am an avid reader, the atom bomb could probably go off in my face and I won't even know it. One friend gave me 5 books one day and I returned them the next week he was surprised and then I told him I ran out and went to the library for some. Sometimes I think the library girls all look at each other when I come in and she's back.

carollee: Actually, I think that's wonderful! People like you are one of the many many reasons we must have libraries around this country. I wish i could read as much as you, but I have a terrible time staying awake long enough to get past two or three chapters at a time. But good for you, carrollee!

Lorrie

Carolle,So glad to hear you donate your books to the various organizations. I donate mine to a local nursing home.

I called the veterans hospital in my local and asked the libraryian if she would like to have some really good fiction books. I belonged to the Literary Guild at the time and a lot of them were hard backs. She told me she threw all fiction books in the waste basket and only kept educational material!! I explained to her she was denying a lot of good reading to these confined Vets. I aldo told her that if she exercised her mind a little she might find a place for these great books. I don't think she wanted to work to hard.