Reality Rocks ( #AtoZChallenge )

      Reality and research books rank high with me.   If you've been following my 2023 A to Z series you have likely noticed that my book collection is heavily weighted on the side on non-fiction and other informational type books.  Don't get me wrong though.  I do still enjoy reading fiction and many books of this nature reside on my shelves.  Philip Roth is one of those authors that I highly regard.  His novel Nemesis is one of the great bargains I picked up when my neighborhood Borders Books closed down some ten years or so ago.  On the final day of their closing sale, I walked out of the store with a big bag of mainly hardback books that I had bought for $1.25 each.  There were some excellent books that I took away from that now lamented Borders.  Unfortunately, my copy of the Roth book and other Roth books previously purchased through other outlets are boxed up or hidden away so that they were not easily accessible for photographing for this post.  But I highly recommend Nemesis for those who enjoy a poignant story by a masterful writer.  

       Here are the 'R' books that I did see out in the open on my bookshelves...

 

Reader's Digest Condensed Books

       Many people have acquired one or more of these volumes in their home libraries.  They've been a mainstay for book lovers for over fifty years now.  The earliest ones I own came from my mother's and her parents' collections.   Later in my life I also apparently bought a few since I have some from the nineties.  If you're not familiar with these compilations, they are shortened versions of popular novels of a particular year.  A book like this is nice for those frivolous reading times such as vacations.  Or to get an overview of what types of books have recently been published.  They are excellent for those times when you want to read something, but you've got nothing specific to read.   It's like their namesake magazine.  My mother frequently subscribed to Reader's Digest Magazine when I was younger and I always enjoyed reading through that publication.  Later, in the nineties when I settled down in Los Angeles, for a while I also subscribed to the magazine and have kept them neatly packed away in boxes for a future reader to enjoy.

Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus 

       If you think of yourself as a writer or even don't, then you surely have this book on your shelf.  Or at least some kind of thesaurus.   However Roget is maybe the gold standard of this kind of book.  Now, as I usually do, you probably just go online to find this information, but having this book near at hand just seems so professional.  The copy shown is a nice hardback that I got from a book club.   I probably could find at least six other thesauruses in our house if I looked for a few minutes.

Religions

       As mentioned in previous posts, I have many books about the Bible and religion in general.  Most of my religious books are focused on Christianity since that is the system upon which my spiritual beliefs are founded, but there are some others as well.    Like this one...

World Religions from Ancient History to the Present

        This is probably a book that I obtained through some book club, but I don't really know where or when I got it.  It appears to be a reasonably good overview of the major religions of the world though I have not actually read any of it so I'm not sure how good it is.  The book gets good Amazon reviews so maybe it's a worthwhile book to own.  It's a nice one to help fill out the shelves that I have dedicated to books on religion.

Riddles of the Sphinx by Paul Jordan

       This is undoubtedly an interesting subject.  It was interesting enough to lure me into buying a copy of this nice looking volume.  But apparently it's not interesting enough for me to have read it yet.  Maybe one of these days I'll crack this one open to learn what the Sphinx riddles are.

Rock and Roll Encyclopedia by Lillian Roxon

        Since buying this book from the Doubleday Book Club when I was a high school senior in 1969, I have referred to it often.  This was one of my favorite books to read through back then and I still pick it up every now and then.  In fact, I relied on this book heavily when I was compiling my 2022 A to Z posts about my record collection.   The book is pretty much outdated as far as rock and roll history--it only goes up to 1969--but it provides some nice details about artists you know and some you might have never heard of.  A recent surprise came when I watched the 2019 Helen Reddy biopic I Am Woman.  The film tells how Reddy's career in the U.S. was given a boost through her friendship with fellow Aussie Lillian Roxon who was already living in NYC where she had established her career as a writer.   When Reddy arrives in America Roxon is working on her Rock Encyclopedia.   Prior to seeing this movie (in March of 2023) I knew nothing of Lillian Roxon.  It was nice to get some backstory on her and her book.  Roxon's Encyclopedia was revised in 1978, but I'm proud to own a copy of the original version.  It's a fantastic book for anyone who has been a fan of rock and pop music.

     

Rolling Stone Record Guide

        During the seventies I had begun amassing a considerable amount of records and other recorded materials.  I had become a bit fanatic about buying music.  When I saw this Guide in one of my frequent bookstore visits I immediately snatched it up.  I can't say that I always agree with the critical assessments of many of the albums reviewed here, but it's interesting to read other points of view about recordings in my collection as well as other recordings I might consider buying.  Of course this is a bit outdated since all the albums discussed in these pages came out more than forty years ago, but it makes for enjoyable perusal of the music of the past if you're into that sort of thing like I am.

Robert E. Lee by Emory M Thomas 

        Still another book about the Civil War in my collection.  And any good collection of Civil War books should have a book about this great Confederate general.  So now my collection has representation by Lee and Jackson.   Makes sense to me.

Richmond Burning: The Last Days of the Confederacy by Nelson Lankford

        And moving on to still another book about the Civil War, this book has been one of my favorite reads.  Filled with detail and well-painted word images, I found this to be an enthralling story about a sad time in the history of the United States.   Since I had lived in Richmond at one time, I was familiar with localities talked about in the book.   I was able to really immerse myself in the story and this is a book that I will likely read again.

Read With Me compiled by Thomas B. Costain

       Here's another book that's been on my shelves since my high school days.  It came out in 1965 and I got my copy through the Doubleday Book Club.  I used to buy a lot of short story collections.  But more on that in my next post...

       Have you ever read any of the condensed selections in a Readers Digest book?   Are there any particular book topics or themes that you have tended to collect?   Do you prefer short stories or novels?