Terry Tales

The First R

I love words. Anagrams, crosswords, Scrabble, anything to do with words makes me happy. It took decades for me to see myself as a writer, but I fell in love with reading at my first sight of 'see spot run'. Dick and Jane are no longer considered appropriate in today’s woke America. They didn't even reflect my own life in rural Montana. But the subject matter wasn't important. Those books opened my eyes to the idea that words and pictures could stand in for the real world.

In third grade, I devoured the two-bookshelf 'library' at our tiny country schoolhouse. After gobbling up the Hardy boys, I continued with Nancy Drew. She might have been for girls, but at least it was something to read. That almost-library also introduced me to science fiction with Mr. Bass's Planetoid by Eleanor Cameron. I soon moved on to the ‘big’ library in town and Isaac Asimov's Lucky Starr series. It was soon outdated by Star Trek and the moon landings, but the wonderful idea of space travel stuck with me for the rest of my life.

In sixth grade, I outgrew the children's section of the library in Ronan. I worked out a deal with the librarian to check out titles from the main collection with the condition that she could veto my selections if they were too ‘adult'. Our family only went to town on Saturday, so I also had to talk her into allowing me five books at a time. The usual limit of three wouldn't last me a full week.

Perhaps the best part of high school was access to yet another library. That's where I stumbled across The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien and added fantasy to my sci-fi addiction. The high school library didn't hold me very long, however, and I soon began to explore the secondhand stores that stocked used paperbacks. That became a lifelong hobby that still continues at our local Half Price Books, and I always have boxes of unread books around.

In my later years I've returned to the genre that I first encountered in third grade. But now I enjoy what I call cultural mysteries. Stories set in places and cultures that educate as well as entertain. One of my favorites is the Leaphorn and Chee series by Tony Hillerman that features Navajo policemen solving crime on the reservation. I also enjoy the Norwegian Harry Höle series by Jo Nesbo, the medieval era Brother Cadfael books by Edith Pargeter, and the Icelandic Detective Erlendur series by Arnaldur Indridason.

Now the libraries are on-line, and the shelves are electronic. This has opened up far more selection than I can possibly wade through. Much of it is dross, of course, not even worth a paltry 99 cents. But every classic ever written is also available. Many of the great books are out of copyright and can be downloaded for free. I have literally hundreds of books loaded on my e-reader. The upside is that they don’t require physical shelf space. The downside is that I’ll likely never finish them all, yet I continue to download more.