Bette Hargrave
Favorite books and/or classics read and promoted for your reading pleasure:
The Oxbow Incident, by Walter Van Tilbury Clark (1909-1971). From The New Yorker magazine: “A masterpiece. The Oxbow Incident bears about the same relation to an ordinary western that The Maltese Falcon does to a hack detective story.”
My husband found this novel on his reading list for a college course and passed it on to me. Reading has been an escape at times for the busy life of supporting a family, but also the best enjoyment of imagination!
It was long ago, but I remember the deep connection one felt for the innocent and the cattle owners of this story.
This was the first published work of Walter Van Tilburg Clark, and his career of writing only spanned a decade, but he ranks very high as Nevada’s most distinguished literary figure and was the first inductee to their Writers Hall of Fame in 1988.
Next, but not necessarily in order of most enjoyable, I must mention Wuthering Heights, by Emily Brontë. We have more than one copy of this story and, of course, we’ve probably all seen movie adaptations.
Third mention is East of Eden, by John Steinbeck. This story appeared in my home as a Readers Digest condensed book of stories. My father felt that East of Eden was not material for a 12-year-old, so I hid under the bedcovers at night to read! I’ve been to Steinbeck’s hometown of Salinas, Calif., and dined in the Steinbeck home. To this day, Steinbeck is a favorite author.
East of Eden, made more famous by the adaptation of the 1955 film in which James Dean had the starring role, was set in 20th century Monterey, Calif., and much of the film was actually shot on location in Mendocino, Calif., with some scenes in the Salinas Valley. A wonderful film but, for me, I appreciate the book more.
The SLCC Library has a small but wonderful section of classics for your perusal. Another favorite is A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens, a historical novel first published serially in London and in the USA by Harper’s Weekly in 1859. Although this story, too, has been adapted to movies many times, I still love the novel to read best!
More recent books I recommend are One Step Too Far, by Lisa Gardner; Where the Crawdads Sing, by Delia Owens, a gift to my library (now a movie in theaters soon or now), really popular and worth reading!
Best sellers purchased in May for the SLCC Library are as follows:
1. Across the River: Life, Death, and Football in an American City, by Kent Babb. An inspiring, true story! “A penetrating widescreen story of what it means to mentor under the toughest of circumstances.” —Kirkus Reviews. “Babb takes us to a place most of us would never go, telling us a story we’d never know. This book is so important.” —Peter King, NBC Sports.
2. The Personal Librarian, by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray. The little-known story of Belle da Costa Greene, the personal librarian of J.P. Morgan. You’ll be surprised by her secret and wonderful story!
3. Dream Town, by David Baldacci. This is a Detective Archer novel, one of our favorite authors, on my read-soon list.
4. The Investigator (Large Print), by John Sandford. Already checked out, of course, but put your name in for next availability.
5. Beautiful, by Danielle Steel, published April 19, 2022. A supermodel’s world torn apart.
6. Sunday at the Sunflower Inn (Large Print), by Jodi Thomas. A love story in small-town Texas. A favorite romance author.
Summer is a good time for reading! The library appreciates your donations. Happy Reading!