This week’s Weekly Geek is a tale of fond memories of childhood books. Or rather, fond memories of books during childhood? Or perhaps it’s both.
Having been Cursed with a Bad Memory, it’s not surprising that I don’t really have many fond memories of books during my childhood; in fact, I have exactly two. I know I read; family legend has it that in a reading “contest” during fourth grade (duration unknown), I read the second highest number of pages in my class (number unknown), coming in second only to my best friends. But, what did I read?
Instead of listing the books that I do remember, or rather remembered that I read when re-reading, I’m going to tell the stories of the two series that I do remember reading.
The first book obsession was with the Little House on the Prairie series. I read them the summer between 2nd and 3rd grade (I think), and became totally obsessed with them. (My brother hates it when I tell this story; you’ll see why soon.) I decided that I was Laura (I have since realized that there are two kinds of readers: those that insert themselves in the story, and those that want to be the main character. I was the latter.), and that I lived in the 19th-century west. I wore skirts and sunbonnets, made everyone call me Laura, called my parents “Ma” and “Pa”, and dressed my younger brother up in skirts and sunbonnets and made him be Mary. (For the record, he was 5, and pretty game to play along.) We had all sorts of Laura- and Mary-ish adventures, climbing things, stalking things, picking things…. I don’t remember how many times I read and re-read the books, but I do remember that it was one of the best summers.
The second was the Nancy Drew mysteries. I was a bit older when I found these, and so I didn’t dress up and pretend, but instead spent hours daydreaming that I was as witty and together and pretty as Nancy was. (Down to the boyfriend, Ned; oh, how I wanted a boyfriend like Ned.) I admired her pluck (yes, that’s the best word) and gumption (it’s so 50s, I know), and drive. I wasn’t a terribly outgoing person (I think at this time, I spent recess with my best friend pretending we were horses… or something like that), and when I read these books, I was suddenly not only confident, but popular and witty. I probably went snooping around (a habit left over from reading Harriet the Spy) looking for mysteries to solve, pretending that I was a great detective. I loved the thrill of reading the mysteries, something that lasted for quite a while: by the time I was in 6th grade, I had graduated to Agatha Christie, systematically reading through all her books.
But that’s another story.
The Book Nut 
Oh yeah Nancy Drew – I loved her books when I was a kid – such a clever girl!
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I did Nancy Drew obsessively. But I don’t think I’ve ever read an Agatha Christie. Weird huh.
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I forgot to mention the Perry Mason books which I finished in high school. I still have 33 of those books.
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What’s really fun is that now I”m reading Nancy Drew to my daughter. We just finished my all-time faavorite, The Mystery of the 99 Steps!! Wow! How cheesy it all was!
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I loved Nancy Drew too! My mom had around thirty of them from when she was little, and she gave them to me in sixth grade. 😀 How could I not love them after that?!
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I loved the Little House on the Prairie series but never read any of Nancy Drew. Odd. I wonder why I skipped that series? Don’t remember.P.S. I like your new set up.
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I also went straight from Nancy Drew to Agatha Christie. I remember reading my first AC and having this revelation that in Nancy Drew books there are no murders — only theft, vandalism, and similar tame, boring misdemeanors. And from that point on I never looked back. 🙂 I love your new header, btw.
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Tricia — I would say you should read Agatha Christie, but it’s been years since I’ve cracked open a book of hers… I wouldn’t know where to start you. Gautami — I had no idea Perry Mason was a book as well as a TV series (I watched the series religiously with my mom on reruns during the summer.) Bree — don’t worry about skipping Nancy Drew. As smallworld says, it’s really cheezy. Works good for the 9 to 11 year old set, though. Hubby and I get into arguments about which is better: Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys… (since I only read Nancy and he only read Hardy Boys, it’s hardly a fair argument).And thanks, Bree and Julie. I figured I needed something brighter for summer. 🙂
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I didn’t read Nancy Drew (well, I only read one book, anyway). But I LOVED Little House. I tried making “snow candy” and wanted to be Laura. I always think of them as “Laura, Mary, Carrie, and baby Grace”. I tried describing everything, much like Laura did for Mary.
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I loved this post! Sounds a lot like me as a kid – especially the “pretending you were horses” part!
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