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I LOVED to read as a child, then I went to high school and was forced to read all those books I had no interest in and I honestly think it killed my enjoyment of reading. Now as an adult I buy books and hardly ever read them. But one book remains to be my favorite, I read it when I was about 12, it's called Booky (like Boo-Key). It's a trilogy based on the author's life as she grew up in Toronto during the great depression. My parents grew up in Toronto so I know the exact spots the author is speaking of throughout the story and I guess I feel connected to it.
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Awesome topic, Enril! It's always great to see what people are reading or have read.
My favorite fictional novel of all-time is "Lightning," by Mr. Dean Koontz.
I tend to find an author I like, read everything I can get my hands on from them, and then it's a bear of a chore to find another author that I like. Although Mr. Koontz often writes about scary apocalypse-type situations, his stories always end with hope. Someone in his books (though you'll lose beloved characters along the way,) always gets a happy ending. His main characters are the "fall in love with one person forever" types, as he has been married to his own wife all his life, and credits her for the existence of his writing career.
Mr. Koontz grew up dirt poor in a shack (no electricity or running water) in the woods in PA. He has said in interviews that because his family survived on wild game, to this day, the smell of it makes him physically nauseous, because he associates it so closely with his childhood (under the domineering fist of an abusive, violent alcoholic father, but a loving mother who protected him at the cost of her own safety.)
He has said that when he and his wife married, their assets were $300 and a used car. Early in their marriage, his wife offered to support them for 5 years while he took a shot at writing full-time, as she reasoned that if he couldn't make it in 5 years, he never would. It took a bit more than 5 years (though he did become established in that time,) but he became a world-renowned, best-selling author. I LOVE a good underdog story, and he is definitely a living example.
At the time I wrote him my first fan letter somewhere in the 90's, he was receiving over 10,000 fan letters a year (and this was in the days of snail mail.) I wrote 3 fan letters to him during that time, and would you believe, he not only took the time to send back copies of his regular newsletter that he sent out to fans, but on each one, he hand-wrote a personal note, each time addressing something specific in my letters.
Mr. Koontz is known for his humility and amazing (considering what he went through) sense of humor, and one of my letters jokingly commented on the fact that he had A LOT more hair on the back of his book jackets than on past books. He jovially wrote back, in his own handwriting, that this was all thanks to the modern miracle of very expensive -- and, he noted, very painful -- hair transplants, which I'm sure weren't nearly as streamlined as YouTube tries say they are now.
The most astonishing thing is that this world-famous author, swamped with over 10,000 fan letters a year, took the time to not only reply, but to spell my first name correctly when he hand-wrote it -- which is something even my closest friends miss when sending me a card -- on 3 separate occasions. I have a very ordinary name, but I have a slightly unique variation that most overlook (I don't mind and usually don't correct anyone except for legal identification.)
After I went through my divorce and became involved in a church with very radical members bordering on fanaticism, I was strongly pushed to get rid of anything "worldly" and leave it behind, which included Mr. Koontz's works.
Many, many years later, I am getting back into his books, so far without conviction, and am in the process of writing him another fan letter. I've taken notes while reading several of his recent books, and have prayed to God for help in trying to construct a letter that Mr. Koontz, who writes so much for others to enjoy, will find joy in for himself.
I don't know if I'll hear anything back -- I don't expect to, of course. With the advent of the internet, I'm sure his fan mail volume has multiplied many times over, as he's never stopped writing, and is 79 years old now. I don't know if my letter will even get to him, as I plan to send an old-fashioned snail mail, and to the P.O. box still printed in his older works. But I will pray that my letter gets to him and lets him know how much I have appreciated his work.
I realize my post says virtually nothing about the book that started it all for me, and though I haven't gotten into his later works as much as I did with his ones from the 90's, what I love most about "Lightning" is that it will have you laughing, crying, and thinking until your brain hurts -- all within the same pages.
My favorite fictional novel of all-time is "Lightning," by Mr. Dean Koontz.
I tend to find an author I like, read everything I can get my hands on from them, and then it's a bear of a chore to find another author that I like. Although Mr. Koontz often writes about scary apocalypse-type situations, his stories always end with hope. Someone in his books (though you'll lose beloved characters along the way,) always gets a happy ending. His main characters are the "fall in love with one person forever" types, as he has been married to his own wife all his life, and credits her for the existence of his writing career.
Mr. Koontz grew up dirt poor in a shack (no electricity or running water) in the woods in PA. He has said in interviews that because his family survived on wild game, to this day, the smell of it makes him physically nauseous, because he associates it so closely with his childhood (under the domineering fist of an abusive, violent alcoholic father, but a loving mother who protected him at the cost of her own safety.)
He has said that when he and his wife married, their assets were $300 and a used car. Early in their marriage, his wife offered to support them for 5 years while he took a shot at writing full-time, as she reasoned that if he couldn't make it in 5 years, he never would. It took a bit more than 5 years (though he did become established in that time,) but he became a world-renowned, best-selling author. I LOVE a good underdog story, and he is definitely a living example.
At the time I wrote him my first fan letter somewhere in the 90's, he was receiving over 10,000 fan letters a year (and this was in the days of snail mail.) I wrote 3 fan letters to him during that time, and would you believe, he not only took the time to send back copies of his regular newsletter that he sent out to fans, but on each one, he hand-wrote a personal note, each time addressing something specific in my letters.
Mr. Koontz is known for his humility and amazing (considering what he went through) sense of humor, and one of my letters jokingly commented on the fact that he had A LOT more hair on the back of his book jackets than on past books. He jovially wrote back, in his own handwriting, that this was all thanks to the modern miracle of very expensive -- and, he noted, very painful -- hair transplants, which I'm sure weren't nearly as streamlined as YouTube tries say they are now.
The most astonishing thing is that this world-famous author, swamped with over 10,000 fan letters a year, took the time to not only reply, but to spell my first name correctly when he hand-wrote it -- which is something even my closest friends miss when sending me a card -- on 3 separate occasions. I have a very ordinary name, but I have a slightly unique variation that most overlook (I don't mind and usually don't correct anyone except for legal identification.)
After I went through my divorce and became involved in a church with very radical members bordering on fanaticism, I was strongly pushed to get rid of anything "worldly" and leave it behind, which included Mr. Koontz's works.
Many, many years later, I am getting back into his books, so far without conviction, and am in the process of writing him another fan letter. I've taken notes while reading several of his recent books, and have prayed to God for help in trying to construct a letter that Mr. Koontz, who writes so much for others to enjoy, will find joy in for himself.
I don't know if I'll hear anything back -- I don't expect to, of course. With the advent of the internet, I'm sure his fan mail volume has multiplied many times over, as he's never stopped writing, and is 79 years old now. I don't know if my letter will even get to him, as I plan to send an old-fashioned snail mail, and to the P.O. box still printed in his older works. But I will pray that my letter gets to him and lets him know how much I have appreciated his work.
I realize my post says virtually nothing about the book that started it all for me, and though I haven't gotten into his later works as much as I did with his ones from the 90's, what I love most about "Lightning" is that it will have you laughing, crying, and thinking until your brain hurts -- all within the same pages.
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thats awesome.
something that remiknds me of in neal shusterman's books. all of them are about bhighly controversial subjectsz, like insanity, drugs, death.... but are incredibly well written, and always have a recovery and positive (if not happy) ending. the scythe trilogy is my favorite. and also his books are pretty language free. i was disappointed when the entire trilogy is languavge free, and on almost the last page, the f-word pops up.
something that remiknds me of in neal shusterman's books. all of them are about bhighly controversial subjectsz, like insanity, drugs, death.... but are incredibly well written, and always have a recovery and positive (if not happy) ending. the scythe trilogy is my favorite. and also his books are pretty language free. i was disappointed when the entire trilogy is languavge free, and on almost the last page, the f-word pops up.
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I used to read a lot. Many I've forgotten or have a slight memory of.
The original M.Y.T.H. series by Robert Asprin was a fun read. Loved them when I read them. I think it was after 6 books his books began being co-authored, and I lost interest.
A. Lee Martinez was one i got into later in life. He did horror or fantasy comedies.
Gil's All Fright Diner
Monster
The Automatic Detective
In the Company of Ogres
The Nameless Witch
Too Many Curses
Helen and Troy's Excellent Quest
The original M.Y.T.H. series by Robert Asprin was a fun read. Loved them when I read them. I think it was after 6 books his books began being co-authored, and I lost interest.
A. Lee Martinez was one i got into later in life. He did horror or fantasy comedies.
Gil's All Fright Diner
Monster
The Automatic Detective
In the Company of Ogres
The Nameless Witch
Too Many Curses
Helen and Troy's Excellent Quest
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Sheesh. Where's the rest of my post?? It cut half of it off. Here's the rest of my original post.
I've read all of Michael Crichton's fiction books, except one, The Great Train Robbery i think it was. It was his only western and I'm a zero fan of that type. Nearly all of his fiction works were turned into movies. Jurassic Park being the most popular.
For a Christian fiction book ~Demon - A Memoir was really good. By Tosca Lee. It was inspired by The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis. There were others i wanted to read, but by then I was losing interest in reading.
Christian author Frank Peretti made some awesome books.
~This Present Darkness
~Piercing The Darkness
~The Visitation
~Monster
~House
~The Oath
~Prophet
All good books.
House was considered Christian Horror and was even made into a low budget movie that was pretty decent, though a bit of a weird ending.
Ted Dekker was a pretty well known Christian fiction author. He had numerous books, but I only read a few of them. But they were all good.
I can second Dean Koontz, as well. Didnt read much from him, but the little I did was good.
James Rollins, I read a few of his and enjoyed them.
Those are the first that came to mind. Should give you some options.
I've read all of Michael Crichton's fiction books, except one, The Great Train Robbery i think it was. It was his only western and I'm a zero fan of that type. Nearly all of his fiction works were turned into movies. Jurassic Park being the most popular.
For a Christian fiction book ~Demon - A Memoir was really good. By Tosca Lee. It was inspired by The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis. There were others i wanted to read, but by then I was losing interest in reading.
Christian author Frank Peretti made some awesome books.
~This Present Darkness
~Piercing The Darkness
~The Visitation
~Monster
~House
~The Oath
~Prophet
All good books.
House was considered Christian Horror and was even made into a low budget movie that was pretty decent, though a bit of a weird ending.
Ted Dekker was a pretty well known Christian fiction author. He had numerous books, but I only read a few of them. But they were all good.
I can second Dean Koontz, as well. Didnt read much from him, but the little I did was good.
James Rollins, I read a few of his and enjoyed them.
Those are the first that came to mind. Should give you some options.
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Hi En-reál!
I tend to favor first-person accounts of actual lived experiences. My favorite is "Adventures in Two Worlds" by A.J. Cronin. It's a colorful autobiography of a British doctor turned successful author. He takes you along through med. school, a stint working in a mental hospital, on a passenger ship during a disease outbreak, time spent as a country doctor pre WW2, later as a company doctor in a mining community, then as personal physician to the rich and famous. It was very raw and real and addressed a lot of social issues in an interesting personal way. It's not a "Christian" book per se, but Cronin does describe his "come to Jesus" moment and a few other spiritual experiences as well. Loved it!
You might like "The Cross and the Switchblade" by David Wilkerson. It don't sugarcoat much. 😎👍
I tend to favor first-person accounts of actual lived experiences. My favorite is "Adventures in Two Worlds" by A.J. Cronin. It's a colorful autobiography of a British doctor turned successful author. He takes you along through med. school, a stint working in a mental hospital, on a passenger ship during a disease outbreak, time spent as a country doctor pre WW2, later as a company doctor in a mining community, then as personal physician to the rich and famous. It was very raw and real and addressed a lot of social issues in an interesting personal way. It's not a "Christian" book per se, but Cronin does describe his "come to Jesus" moment and a few other spiritual experiences as well. Loved it!
You might like "The Cross and the Switchblade" by David Wilkerson. It don't sugarcoat much. 😎👍
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I have read jurassic park, none of his others though.
tosca lee I've heard of and read some maybe.
peretti i read a lot of his ya novels, tthe oath im reading--a month at least so far-- and tpd is on my to read.
All of Ted Dekkers are good. I have read all but the paradise and his mysteries.
tosca lee I've heard of and read some maybe.
peretti i read a lot of his ya novels, tthe oath im reading--a month at least so far-- and tpd is on my to read.
All of Ted Dekkers are good. I have read all but the paradise and his mysteries.
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😄
this is what I meant....lol
Chocolate makes everything tasty.
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Jurassic Park ends a lot different in the book than it does in the movie. In the movie a main character drives away, but in the book he dies...
In Ryan George's pitch meeting for Jurassic Park he brought out something interesting. Hammond was setting up a pretty hectic schedule for himself. He made an intro movie for park visitors to watch that featured him (in person) interacting with him (on screen) AND he was present at the birth of every dinosaur. He was going to be very busy for the rest of his life.
In Ryan George's pitch meeting for Jurassic Park he brought out something interesting. Hammond was setting up a pretty hectic schedule for himself. He made an intro movie for park visitors to watch that featured him (in person) interacting with him (on screen) AND he was present at the birth of every dinosaur. He was going to be very busy for the rest of his life.
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After some thought, I feel a need to talk about the actual book that I mentioned. I have not re-read "Lightning" in decades so I'm going from my own fuzzy memory.
Laura Shane was born during a freak lightning storm, and if I remember right, it was during a snowy blizzard and not through rain. Starting with her infancy, a mysterious blond man appears in Laura's life every now and then, saving her from catastrophic events. Laura, being very young, comes to think of him as her guardian angel.
But who, and what, is he really? This is the mystery that the book takes you on.
Mr. Koontz's books won't be for people who want a 100% "pure, Christian" book. One of the best (in my opinion) aspects of his stories is that he really digs into the psychology of the characters. The bad guys think and talk like bad guys, so yes, there is some language, but it's not excessive like in most entertainment today. It's just enough to give you a feel for the character's plans and motivations. Mr. Koontz's earlier works had a bit more mentions of sex, when editors hounded him that he wouldn't be able to sell books without it, but now that he has the freedom to stick to his own true style, there is very little sex in his works, maybe a sentence or two here and there, and again, it's often used to display the mental state of a character.
I know other Christians will slam me for reading such things, but because my calling is to people who have lived messy lives and ask big questions ("Why didn't God save me from my pedophilic father when I was young and helpless?!",) I prefer stories that dare to dive into the real messiness of real life, with nothing prettied up or sanitized, the way life actually is.
One of the things that has embedded "Lightning" in my mind forever is an instance where Laura, as a child, is in danger of an orphanage employee who has nefarious intentions towards her. Although she survives unharmed and he is killed during their encounter, it also results in of Laura's new and beloved adoptive mother.
Years later, when Laura is an adult, she's able to confront her "guardian angel" and asks him why he didn't intervene to save her adoptive mother. And he explains to her that he had certain limitations on when and how often he could appear in her life, and that this was one situation in which, since he saw that she made it through "untouched" (by the orphanage employee, at least,) he decided not to interfere.
Mr. Koontz often has things like this in his stories that make me ponder our own relationship with God. Though God has no limitations, we all have incidences in our lives in which we wish He would have saved us from something, and many of us dare to wonder why He chose not to. The answers that Laura's "guardian angel" gives her had me thinking about why God might choose not to save us from some things rather others, deciding which will make us selectively stronger.
Mr. Koontz writes mostly standalone stories, but he has a "Frankenstein" series in which Dr. Frankenstein is a megalomaniac who is trying to replace the human race with his own Replicant creations. His first creature, the monster from the original Mary Shelley story, becomes the hero of the series and is trying to stop his creator.
One of the most fascinating aspects of the story for me is when Dr. Frankenstein's creations start to go haywire. One group isn't allowed free will or to feel pain, only to serve and obey, but they also feel no purpose to their existence and are not allowed to self-delete. As a result, some begin to feel an unquenchable sense of anxiety and begin doing things like gnawing off their own fingers because they have no other way to express what they feel.
In an age of cloning, DNA splicing, gene editing, and attempts to create "designer human beings" with this or that "weakness" taken out of a person's genetic material, these books had me pondering how far God will let is go when tampering with His original design -- and how much havoc we unleash when we keep trying.
I've read interviews in which Mr. Koontz has said (due to the extreme things he's gone through,) he has gone back and forth regarding the Christians faith, but is "definitely back in the believing camp" again, at least last I knew.
This thread has reinforced my resolve to try to finish my current fan letter to Mr. Koontz, which is why I won't be on CC as much -- I'm using that time to tackle his letter like I would a paper for a school assignment -- so far I'm up to 6 pages of raw material that desperately needs editing and polishing.
Thanks for giving me an extra kick of motivation!
Laura Shane was born during a freak lightning storm, and if I remember right, it was during a snowy blizzard and not through rain. Starting with her infancy, a mysterious blond man appears in Laura's life every now and then, saving her from catastrophic events. Laura, being very young, comes to think of him as her guardian angel.
But who, and what, is he really? This is the mystery that the book takes you on.
Mr. Koontz's books won't be for people who want a 100% "pure, Christian" book. One of the best (in my opinion) aspects of his stories is that he really digs into the psychology of the characters. The bad guys think and talk like bad guys, so yes, there is some language, but it's not excessive like in most entertainment today. It's just enough to give you a feel for the character's plans and motivations. Mr. Koontz's earlier works had a bit more mentions of sex, when editors hounded him that he wouldn't be able to sell books without it, but now that he has the freedom to stick to his own true style, there is very little sex in his works, maybe a sentence or two here and there, and again, it's often used to display the mental state of a character.
I know other Christians will slam me for reading such things, but because my calling is to people who have lived messy lives and ask big questions ("Why didn't God save me from my pedophilic father when I was young and helpless?!",) I prefer stories that dare to dive into the real messiness of real life, with nothing prettied up or sanitized, the way life actually is.
One of the things that has embedded "Lightning" in my mind forever is an instance where Laura, as a child, is in danger of an orphanage employee who has nefarious intentions towards her. Although she survives unharmed and he is killed during their encounter, it also results in of Laura's new and beloved adoptive mother.
Years later, when Laura is an adult, she's able to confront her "guardian angel" and asks him why he didn't intervene to save her adoptive mother. And he explains to her that he had certain limitations on when and how often he could appear in her life, and that this was one situation in which, since he saw that she made it through "untouched" (by the orphanage employee, at least,) he decided not to interfere.
Mr. Koontz often has things like this in his stories that make me ponder our own relationship with God. Though God has no limitations, we all have incidences in our lives in which we wish He would have saved us from something, and many of us dare to wonder why He chose not to. The answers that Laura's "guardian angel" gives her had me thinking about why God might choose not to save us from some things rather others, deciding which will make us selectively stronger.
Mr. Koontz writes mostly standalone stories, but he has a "Frankenstein" series in which Dr. Frankenstein is a megalomaniac who is trying to replace the human race with his own Replicant creations. His first creature, the monster from the original Mary Shelley story, becomes the hero of the series and is trying to stop his creator.
One of the most fascinating aspects of the story for me is when Dr. Frankenstein's creations start to go haywire. One group isn't allowed free will or to feel pain, only to serve and obey, but they also feel no purpose to their existence and are not allowed to self-delete. As a result, some begin to feel an unquenchable sense of anxiety and begin doing things like gnawing off their own fingers because they have no other way to express what they feel.
In an age of cloning, DNA splicing, gene editing, and attempts to create "designer human beings" with this or that "weakness" taken out of a person's genetic material, these books had me pondering how far God will let is go when tampering with His original design -- and how much havoc we unleash when we keep trying.
I've read interviews in which Mr. Koontz has said (due to the extreme things he's gone through,) he has gone back and forth regarding the Christians faith, but is "definitely back in the believing camp" again, at least last I knew.
This thread has reinforced my resolve to try to finish my current fan letter to Mr. Koontz, which is why I won't be on CC as much -- I'm using that time to tackle his letter like I would a paper for a school assignment -- so far I'm up to 6 pages of raw material that desperately needs editing and polishing.
Thanks for giving me an extra kick of motivation!