Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: BOOK(S) - Begins January 4 / Ends January 11 (01/04/18)
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TITLE: Forever Friends | Previous Challenge Entry
By Marlene Bonney
01/09/18 -
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ADD TO MY FAVORITES
Marly loved books, especially those cherished ones in her bedroom wooden bookcase that her grandpa had made for her. A librarian at heart, she had the books alphabetically shelved, making carefully written lists of each title and author.
After her homework or chores were finished, Marly would reward herself with the adventures of “The Bobbsey Twins” or peek into the world of the “Five Little Peppers and How They Grew” as she held the covers, almost reverently, in her hands. It was so much fun to join the paged characters in their fictitious playgrounds. One of her favorites that she had read and re-read over the summer was “Heidi.” Marly would retreat to a corner on the floor of their home’s foyer, away from the strident noises coming from her brothers shenanigans, a slab of cheese and a tall glass of milk at her side to emulate Heidi sitting at the rough-hewn table at grandfather’s hilltop cottage. As she read, the tinkling of a goat’s bell was heard in the near distance of her imagination.
Marly was transfixed with the lives of the Ingalls family of the “Little House on the Prairie” series, identifying with the characters in all their triumphs and troubles. “Trixie Belden” in more modern day settings, became Marly’s fan, as well; soon to be followed by “Nancy Drew,” “Cherry Ames,” and “Sue Barton,” all heroines of books she read and collected.
She played with Scout in “To Kill a Mockingbird,” cried reading “Old Yeller,” was enthralled by Velvet Brown in “National Velvet” and, later on, was blessed by the historical novels of “The Robe” and “The Silver Chalice,” and “Dear and Glorious Physician.” As an older teen and young adult, she was enamored with the Christian romance writer, Grace Livingston Hill. The soothing rhyming poetry of Helen Steiner Rice drew her to writing poems herself, wanting to write like her. “Lorna Doone,” “Gone With the Wind,” (read many times over), “The African Queen” were others that tickled doors of her imagination.
She enjoyed true stories of peers who were over-comers, sympathizing with their difficult circumstances and reveling in their victories. Like a soaring eagle, she flew above and beyond human problems when she read. This was especially true when she read her Bible, a constant companion on her bedside table, not filed neatly on the bookshelves. This, of course, was the ultimate book of truth. Lessons learned from the stories of Abraham and Isaac, Jonah and the Whale, Noah and the Ark, David and Goliath, Moses and the Ten Commandments, Esther and Mordecai, Ruth and Naomi, and Joseph and His Brothers rang out human frailties and strengths that were honest and realistic. And, the life of Jesus with miracles and parables in between the manger and the cross are forever imbedded in her heart. Other books have paled in comparison to God’s Word, reality personified as the Holy Spirit has guided her over the years.
I was that girl, a shadowy image of who I am now, a 67-yr. old grandmother with gray hair (more salt than pepper-colored, I admit). Even though the Bible is my mainstay, I still enjoy other books, over 600 gracing the shelves my husband has built in our den to house them. Novels by the Bronte sisters, Jane Austen, Mary Higgins Clark, Phyllis A. Whitney; Christian writers works by B.J. Hoff, Dee Henderson, Lori Wick, Francine Rivers, Janette Oke, Robin Hardy are always at the ready. Not to be ignored are series by Julie Klassen, Eugenia Price, Richard Paul Evans, John Grisham, Mary Higgins Clark, Rhys Bowen, and Anne Perry.
I have worked in school libraries and created libraries in two churches. So, I guess it is no surprise that I have an online bookstore, buying “retired” books from library used book sales and re-selling them to customers all over the world.
I am not interested in “kindle-fire” or e-books, thank you very much. There is something magical in holding a physical book in your hands, sometimes the scent of fresh or old-time printed words lingering from its pages—there for all time to be enjoyed by readers everywhere.
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This entry is NON-FICTION
"The Bobbsey Twins” by Laura Lee Hope
“Five Little Peppers and How They Grew” by Margaret Sidney
“Heidi” by Johanna Spyri
“Trixie Belden” series by Julie Campbell Tatham
“Nancy Drew” series by Carolyn Keene
“Cherry Ames” series by Helen Wells
“Sue Barton” series by Helen Dore Boylston
“To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee
“Old Yeller” by Fred Gipson
“National Velvet” by Enid Bagnold
“The Robe” by Lloyd C. Douglas
“The Silver Chalice” by Thomas B. Costain
“Dear and Glorious Physician” by Taylor Caldwell
“Lorna Doone” by R.D. Blackmore
“Gone With the Wind” by Margaret Mitchell
“The African Queen” by C.S. Forester
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