Comments on: The Whole Five Feet

By: Sid Morrison

Sid Morrison — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 15:19:17 +0000

I’ve read the whole canon of Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes — that’s just 56 short stories and 4 novellas, though. Not too tough. It’s a wonderful read and a great insight into life in the late 19th and early 20th c. and what interested popular readers (especially British) readers of the day.

I’m currently reading 2 monumental series (I alternate) by Winston Churchill: I’m about 3/4 through his 4 volume History of the English Speaking Peoples (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_History_of_the_English-Speaking_Peoples) and about half through his mammoth (4500 pages?) The Second World War (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Second_World_War_%28Churchill%29). Dang, this guy could write!!! His prose and choice of language is engrossing. Both are wonderful series and (although still in print) quite readily available in the used book market.

Kudos for WizardBoy metioning the WIll Durant series. I’ve been picking them up at used bookstores and gar(b)age sales, but haven’t started reading it yet (other then some from the Christ and Caesar volume). The Durants wrote some very engrossing history.

By: WizardBoy

WizardBoy — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 18:23:50 +0000

If I could afford it — I would love to read the complete LIBRARY OF AMERICA — which is exclusively US Authors (although not all are complete works).

How about Will Durant’s 11-volume STORY OF CIVILIZATION? I have begun it. He suggests in the first volume, read only 1 per month. Ha. I forgot to add — I’ve begun it twice.

By: TerryS

TerryS — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 17:25:01 +0000

When it comes to compilations, I’ve read all of Thieves World, Wild Cards and Heroes in Hell.

By: jenni

jenni — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 16:22:34 +0000

I’ve read every book by Dickens and Dostoevsky. Also Jane Austen and Tolstoy. When I find authors I really like, I tend to try to get my hands on all their novels.

I tried to read all of the Tolkien books, but I really could not finish The Silmarillion.

By: Marta

Marta — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 14:05:28 +0000

I also have a full set of the Harvard Classics that my parents had forever and then gave me. I have thought many times about reading all of them but I just don’t have the time or commitment to read all of them. In the 7 years that I have had the full set I’ve probably only read 5 of them.

By: Meagan

Meagan — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 13:00:49 +0000

I would pick up and read random volumes in the World Book Encyclopedia, but never read the whole collection straight through. So I guess the only collection I’ve read is my own that I’ve accumulated over the years.

By: Brynde

Brynde — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 12:57:23 +0000

There’s no way Lord of the Rings is only a “boy thing.” I’ve read Tolkien many times, too many to count, and fell in love with his work instantly. However, if you want something a little more “textbook,” try the Silmarillion.

By: john b

john b — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 12:28:02 +0000

I stumbled on the Complete Writings of John Burroughs in a library, beginning with Birds and Poets, and after reading it I was hooked. I began looking for similar sets for sale and eventually found one (in the days before ebay). It didn’t take me long to read through all 23, and I still go back to re-read some of my favorite volumes. The man was way ahead of his time, especially in his views on religion and it is a mystery to me why he is not more widely read today.

By: Barbara

Barbara — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 02:43:26 +0000

Lord of the Rings a boy thing??? I fell madly in love with Aragorn, the ideal man. I don’t know how many times I’ve read the trilogy, loving it every time.

I read Compton’s Pictured Encyclopedia when I was a kid. It was a children’s encyclopedia, and quite reader friendly. It started or fostered, I’m not sure which, a life-long love of history. It also lead to the sobriquet Walking Encyclopedia.

By: lindsay m

lindsay m — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 22:40:40 +0000

my husband made me read the entire lord of the rings trilogy and the hobbit when the peter jackson movies were about to come out. it took just about forever, and i was almost in tears of agony by the end of the hobbit. i regularly read classic literature, but those were the hardest to physically get through. it felt like i was reading a textbook. must be a boy thing. after i finished the books i had leverage to get my husband to watch the bbc series “bleak house” with me. we both enjoyed it, but i don’t think i could get him to actually read dickens.