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August's FEATURED AUTHOR: Stephen's favorite books...

August 18, 2010
Stephen Parrish, August's Featured Author, stops by today to share some of his favorite books.

It All Began With Dr. Suess...

And he's still a favorite. One of the benefits of becoming a parent is getting to read him again. I love the stories, the lyrical writing ("On the fifteenth of May, in the Jungle of Nool, In the heat of the day, in the cool of the pool..."), and of course all the fuzzy-headed creatures.

My favorite YA book was Rascal by Sterling North. I cried each time I read it, but since boys weren't supposed to cry, I must have had a cold. I read it again a couple of years ago, for the first time since my early teens, and darn if I didn't come down with something.

My grade school participated in a reading program with Scholastic Books. Every couple of months students could select books from a Scholastic catalog, and our English teacher would place the order for us (do schools still do such things?). My stack was always biggest, in fact sometimes as big as all others combined. And you know what? I don't remember disliking any of those books. Too bad we get grumpy as we age.

Leon Uris, more than any other author, made me want to be an author. Mila 18 is a great novel. Hemingway was also a big influence. When he was good, no one was better. (When he was bad, no one was worse.) Early Vonnegut (Player Piano, Cat's Cradle). Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes; many people don't know it started out as a short story that was so well received (won a Hugo) that he expanded it into a novel. All Creatures Great and Small, by James Herriot. The Fountainhead, by Ayn Rand.

If I had to choose an all-time favorite book it would be The Education of Little Tree, by Forrest Carter. I didn't just suffer from a cold when I finished it, I was ambulatory.

Oh! And I have friends who write as beautifully as any of the quacks listed above! Check out my five-book giveaway!
Thanks for sharing, Stephen! And yes, y'all should check out his five-book giveaway

FTC Disclosure: I am an affiliate at IndieBound, The Book Depository, and Amazon, and any purchases made by clicking on the cover or the links provided may result in monetary compensation.

3 comments:

Sarah Hina said...

I didn't just suffer from a cold when I finished it, I was ambulatory.

I loved this!

Wonderful list of your inspirations. Seuss is the source from which all our journeys begin.

And I'm still a little scared of that vug under the rug...

Stephen Parrish said...

Sarah: I don't know. Eating green eggs and ham on a train in the rain gives me pause. And when tweedle beetles battle in puddle in a bottle . . .

holdenj said...

Some great titles there, I still have never read The Fountainhead, thanks for the reminder!

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