Ten on Tuesday . . .

The Ten On Tuesday prompt for today is a special one in honor of Beverly Cleary's birthday and Drop Everything and Ready Day.  It is:  10 Books That Made YOU Want to Drop Everything and Read.

Wow . . . I was always the kid with the book growing up.  My first "real" job in Junior High was working at the public library shelving books for 75 cents an hour  :-D

Some of these are children's books - some are not. I would sit down and read any of them again at the drop of a hat . . .

1. Nancy Drew.  Any time there was a new one, I was ready.  I learned about pen names - seriously, who knew that "Carolyn Keene" wasn't a real person?!  :-D
2. The Hardy Boys - ditto
3. The Famous Five - I only had a few of these because they were British (gifted to me by a friend of my mother's).  I would have read them all, I'm sure.
4. The Boxcar Children - my cousin found The Boxcar Children cookbook in a used book store a few years ago and snapped it up for me  :-D
5. The Man Who Was Magic - actually, I loved pretty much anything by Paul Gallico.
6. Kay Thompson's Eloise - who didn't love Eloise.  I still love Eloise  :-)\
7. The Stand - I couldn't put it down.  Just don't read it if you have a cold . . .
8. 'Tis Pity She's a Whore - a tragedy by John Ford - published in the 1630s. There was a film made of it in 1971 that I saw in college, which is when I read this play (theater/music major here :-) ). I recall that the film was extremely powerful, and Charlotte Rampling was in it - she's pretty much always brilliant.
9. Awake and Sing - another play, this time by 1930s playwright, Clifford Odets.  Who doesn't love Clifford Odets???
10. The Sun Also Rises -  Mic drop.

All my children's books are now with my cousin's daughter so she can share with them her children. :-)

And those last three titles have made the cut every time I have downsized my books.  If you read Henry James and then read Hemingway, you will see very clearly how he completely changed the trajectory of American literature.

A good list  :-)