by Ruth Floresca

Created on: July 06, 2009

I grew up surrounded by books and other reading materials. My mom was a Reader's Digest subscriber and my dad would usually bring home various tomes that ranged from Agatha Christie novels to books about war. It's no wonder that my interest in the written word started very early.

When I entered elementary school and found a big library there full of books, I thought I was in heaven! I used up three or more borrower's cards each school year because I would usually take out a book in the morning, return it in the afternoon and borrow another one to take home for the night.

I went though the Nancy Drew, Dana Girls, Bobbsey Twins and Hardy Boys phases first before I graduated to Sweet Dreams and Sweet Valley High in high school. Before I entered college, I was already borrowing Mills & Boon, Harlequin and other romance novels from friends and classmates.

Over the years, I have accumulated hundreds of books that I kept in my collection. Here are some of the best ones I will not sell and would not want to go missing, in no particular order:

AUTOBIOGRAPHY / NON-FICTION

Erma Bombeck - the funny housewife who can tickle your funny bone and make you cry at the same time

~ Motherhood, The Second Oldest Profession

~ Family, The Ties That Bind ... and Gag!

~ A Marriage Made in Heaven, Or Too Tired for an Affair?

James Herriot - the veterinarian who has funny and poignant stories to tell

~ All Things Bright and Beautiful

~ All Creates Great and Small

~ All Things Wise and Wonderful

~ The Lord God Made Them All

(Isn't it great how he managed to write books about the whole poem?!)

~ James Herriot's Dog Stories

~ Every Living Thing

Maya Angelou - whose autobiography (first four books) chronicled a life of hardships and eventual triumph

~ I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

~ Gather Together in My Name

~ Singin' and Swinging and Getting Merry for Christmas

~ Heart of a Woman

~ Wouldn't Take Nothing For My Journey Now

Julius Lester

~ On Writing for Children and Other People

~ To Be a Slave

Aline Griffith Romanos - true to life stories of a countess who worked as a spy for the OSS

~ The Spy Wore Red

~ The Spy Wore Silk

~ The Spy Went Dancing

Mattie J.T. Stepanek

~ Hope Through Heartsongs (a collection of poems by a gifted child)

FICTION

Amy Tan

~ The Joy Luck Club

Janet Dailey

~ The Calder series

Barbara Taylor Bradford

~ A Woman of Substance series

Wilbur Smith - who has given me wonderful glimpses of a different

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>