And you made me smile with this comment, Lynette. I love hearing about how much we all loved to read as little ones.

Grabbed is right, Jenny! I first read Dune when it was serialized in Analog Science Fiction Magazine, so I had to wait a month for the next installment! Arrrgh!

That series has an interesting history. I met Frank Herbert's son (ok, so I'm name-dropping) and the story he tells behind the follow-on books goes like this. After Herbert died his son opened a safe deposit box and found notes and old 6 1/2" floppies with the beginning of "Dune 7." The rest is history.

I envy you reading Dune for the first time.

I put the Godfather down at the horse's head in the bed. I just didn't have the fortitude to withstand that level of mean at that age. I've always thought I should pick it back up. And I have long thought I should read Dune. That book grabbed my husband and he's not a reader. So, I know it would grab me.

Yes! Little Golden Books! My mother must have saved mine because I found a about a dozen when I went through boxes of her stored material. They're wonderful. Thanks for reminding all of us, Denise.

I'm with you, Jenny -- I read everything I could get my hands on, and there was nothing like the thrill of discovering a new writer. I have to say, however, that The Godfather grabbed me like few other books ever have. We were on a driving vacation when I started it and I could not stop reading. We'd stop for gas and I'd get through a couple of pages. Loved that story!
Now, may I suggest a treat? Take a look at Frank Herbert's Dune. You won't be sorry.

My mother never censored my reading because she knew if it was too much for me, I'd put it down. The John Jakes Gideon family Chronicles, I blew through. But the Godfather and Valley of the Dolls, I put down.

I found Harlequins in the 6th and 7th grade and added romance to my repertoire after that. The classics were in there too. I never caught the science fiction bug, but I read everything else.

Marylou, the link works just fine. I look forward to reading your essay.

Barb, I love it. Tom the hand puppet helps you in class. I can hear that clerk now, telling you there are no pictures. Good job to insist.
Thanks for commenting, glad you like Holmes, too, because the game's definitely afoot with this post!