Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Ralph Moody: Little Britches series and concise histories

Ralph Moody: (autobiography and history)

When the author was twenty-one, he wrote in a diary that he would work as hard as he could to save $50,000 by the time he was fifty, and then write a book. He began Little Britches on his 50th birthday. Touching saga--great account of growing up in the early 1900's.

Autobiographies:

· Little Britches: Father and I Were Ranchers [1906 - 1910 - Colorado]

· Man of the Family [1910-1912, Colorado]

· The Home Ranch [summer of 1911 - amplifies his story as ranch hand from "Man of the Family", Colorado]

· Mary Emma and Company [1912 - Massachusetts]

· The Fields of Home [1914 -1915 - grandfather's farm, Maine]

· Shaking the Nickel Bush [1918, Arizona]

· The Dry Divide [19_, Nebraska]

· Horse of a Different Color: Reminiscences of a Kansas Drover [19__ in his early twenties]

History - by Moody include:

(I have read all except the one I have not yet found. They are as gripping as his autobiographies, very well researched and presented. It is clear that research for the individuals books was preparatory to the "Old Trails" and "Stagecoach West" which are detailed history books)

  • Kit Carson and the Wild Frontier (1955)
  • Geronimo, Wolf of the Warpath (1958)
  • Riders of the Pony Express (1958)
  • Wells Fargo (1961)
  • Silver and Lead: The Birth and Death of a Mining Town (1961) - juvenile book format; story of "Silver City" with explanations of how minerals came to be there in the first place, etc.
  • America Horses (1962)
  • Come on Seabiscuit (1963) - this book is not credited as telling the "real story" in the way the much more recent book and movie, "Seabiscuit" are credited. However, it is a more succinct, very engrossing, accurate (as far as I can tell) representation of the facts in the recent version.
  • The Old Trails West - Vol. 1 - The Gila Trail, El Camino Real, Old Spanish Trail" - The Great Legendary Routes that Bound a Wild Land into a Nation - 4538-1880 (1963)
  • "Gateways to the Northwest - The Old Trails West - Vol. 2 - The Santa Fe Trail, Big Medicine Trail, The Oregon Trail, The California Trail" (1963)
  • Stagecoach West (1967) - (this is truly "pure history" with a great deal of carefully researched history. You will pick up most of the interesting parts if you read all of the other histories.)
  • Knife is Not Enough (can't find this one yet)
  • The Wild Country (hard to find -- this is NOT a different book; it was originally published as Little Britches: Father and I Were Ranchers. I have included it in this list for informational purposes only, as you may find it listed in some places. It was made into a Disney movie, but the movie is not much recognizable from the book. It is, however, a good family movie and manages to maintain the "flavor" of the books in an acceptable manner.)

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Historical Fiction - Giles

Janice Holt Giles:
[Some of her books loosely follow a couple of familes to Kentucky and beyond. I have grouped these together insofar as is possible.]

The following are suitable for as young as pre-teen IF the child is an advanced reader and emotionally mature:
  • The Kentuckians - earliest settling of Kentucky
  • Hannah Fowler - Kentucky
  • Run Me a River - Civil War
  • The Believers - story of a couple's conversion to the Shaker faith - I would not give this one to a pre-teen.  I need to re-do the post.
  • The Land Beyond the Mountains - struggle for statehood
  • Johnny Osage - Oklahoma Territory
(This list is very incomplete while I attempt to compile the stories in historical order.)

Some of her books are not at ALL suitable for pre-teens, and one or two are truly adult books.  I will eventually get them all sorted out and on here.  It's very hard to get some of them, so it's taking me a long time.
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1930's teacher in Alaska, (Hobbs) - Specht

Robert Specht:

Tisha (autobiographical)

True story of young teacher (Anne Hobbs) in the Alaskan wilderness as told to Specht

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The No. 1 Detective Agency Series - McCall Smith

Alexander McCall Smith:
[No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency” series: featuring Precious Ramotswe -- Botswana's leading, and only, female private detective.]
  • The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
  • Tears of the Giraffe
  • Morality For Beautiful Girls
  • The Kalahari Typing School For Men
  • The Full Cupboard of Life
  • In the Company of Cheerful Ladies
  • Blue Shoes and Happiness
  • The Good Husband of Zebra Drive
  • The Miracle at Speedy Motors
  • Tea Time for the Traditionally Built
  • The Double Comfort Safari Club
  • The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party
There is nothing objectionable for a pre-teen, but I do not think they would find them very interesting.

McCall Smith has several other series; none of them are anything like these.
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Mitford and Father Tim Series - Karon

The "Mitford" series revolves around the lives of people living in a fictional North Carolina town with the central character being Father Tim, the local Episcopalian priest.  

The author chose to begin a new series revolving around the life of Father Tim some time after he retires.  She calls it the "Father Tim" series.  Perhaps she changed the name of the series as she chose to depart from some of the basic tenants of the earlier stories.  She takes him in to what may be termed more unsettling areas in the first Father Tim novel.


Not for pre-teens, despite the largely wholesome life of Christians in a small town; throughout the series there "life events" (such as fires, child abuse, alcoholism, minor unwanted advances by a parishioner, etc.).  These are handled in a very matter-of-fact manner, not as a sensation, but they do occur.


Jan Karon:

The Mitford Series:  
  • At Home in Mitford
  • A Light in the Window
  • These High, Green Hills
  • Out to Canaan
  • A New Song
  • A Common Life
  • In This Mountain
  • Shepherds Abiding
  • Light from Heaven
Father Tim Series:  (definitely a more adult series)
  • Home to Holly Springs
  • Party of Four (waiting for paperback)
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English Doctor, immigrates to Canada - Gibson

Morris Gibson: (autobiographyl)

(autobiographical stories of a Scottish doctor who practiced with his wife in England, then moved to Western Canada – sometimes called the "people version" of James Herriot).  Contemporary and friend of James Herriot; educated in England; served in WWII.  Publication dates are included as some are out of print and dual U.S./Canadian publication data is very confusing.

  • One Man’s Medicine [1984]
  • A View of the Mountains [1985] - (published in Canada as Doctor in the West [1985])
  • Doctor at Large [1986] - (published in Canada as A Doctor's Calling [1986])
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All Creatures Great and Small series - Herriot

James Herriot: (autobiographical)
Great stories of a country Vet in Yorkshire, England; training before WWII, wartime, postwar – published during the 1970’s. There are more books, but most of the stories are included in this 4-volume set
  • All Creatures Great and Small
  • All Things Bright and Beautiful
  • All Things Wise and Wonderful
  • The Lord God Made Them All
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Autobiographical - Iowa Farm life during 1930's - Kalish

Mildred Armstrong Kalish: (autobiographical account)
· Hard Times and High Spirits on an Iowa Farm During the Great Depression
[Not a "story" per se; tells details of how they farmed, went to school, had family gatherings, recipes they used, etc.]
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Little House Series - Laura Ingalls Wilder

Laura Ingalls Wilder: (autobiographical)
· Little House in the Big Woods
· Little House on the Prairie
· Farmer Boy [Alonzo’s story]
· On the Banks of Plum Creek
· By the Shores of Silver Lake
· The Long Winter
· Little Town on the Prairie
· These Happy Golden Years
· The First Four Years

(Our 7-year old grandson went right through the series including The Long Winter, before the story got too grownup for his interests.)
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Friday, June 5, 2009

Louis L'Amour - Historical Novels, etc.




from Wikipedia and other sources

Louis L'Amour [1908-1988]
(I have not read all of these; should I determine any are not family friendly I will note the circumstance by the title as I read them.)

Novels - (including series novels)




There are also two Sackett-related short stories:
  • "The Courting of Griselda" (available in End of the Drive)
  • "Booty for a Badman" (available in War Party)
Sacketts are also involved in the plot of 7 other novels:
  • Bendigo Shafter (Ethan Sackett)
  • Dark Canyon (William Tell Sackett)
  • Borden Chantry (Joe Sackett, killed in ambush that B Chantry solves murder, and Tyrel Sackett)
  • Passin' Through (Parmalee Sackett is mentioned as defending a main character in the book)
  • Son of a Wanted Man (Tyrel Sackett)
  • Catlow (Ben Cowhan marries a cousin of Tyrel Sackett’s wife)
  • Man from the Broken Hills (Em Talon a main character in this book was in fact born a Sackett. Mentions William Tell Sackett)

Talon and Chantry series

  • Borden Chantry
  • Fair Blows the Wind
  • The Ferguson Rifle
  • The Man from the Broken Hills (Em Talon was born a Sackett she is the main character's mother.)
  • Milo Talon (Is a cousin to the Sacketts through his mother Em Talon)
  • North to the Rails
  • Over on the Dry Side
  • Rivers West



Kilkenny series

  • The Rider of Lost Creek (1976)
  • The Mountain Valley War (1978), which previously been released as a magazine novella, entitled A Man Called Trent and was re-written for the Kilkenny trilogy. A Man Called Trent is included in the short story collection entitled The Rider of the Ruby Hills(1986)
  • Kilkenny (1954)
  • A Gun for Kilkenny is a short story featuring Kilkenny as a minor character, from the collection Dutchman's Flat (1986).
  • Monument Rock is a novella in the story collection of the same name.

Hopalong Cassidy series

Originally published under the pseudonym "Tex Burns".
  • The Riders of High Rock
  • The Rustlers of West Fork
  • The Trail to Seven Pines
  • Trouble Shooter



Collections of short stories

  • War Party (1975)
  • The Strong Shall Live (1980)
  • Yondering (1980; revised edition 1989)
  • Buckskin Run (1981)
  • Bowdrie (1983)
  • The Hills of Homicide (1983)
  • Law of the Desert Born (1983)
  • Bowdrie's Law (1984)
  • Night Over the Solomons (1986)
  • The Rider of the Ruby Hills (1986)
  • Riding for the Brand (1986)
  • The Trail to Crazy Man (1986)
  • Dutchman's Flat (1986)
  • Lonigan (1988)
  • Long Ride Home (1989)
  • The Outlaws of Mesquite (1990)
  • West from Singapore (1991)
  • Valley of the Sun (1995)
  • West of Dodge (1996)
  • End of the Drive (1997)
  • Monument Rock (1998)
  • Beyond the Great Snow Mountains (1999)
  • Off the Mangrove Coast (2000)
  • May There Be a Road (2001)
  • With These Hands (2002)
  • From the Listening Hills (2003)
  • The Collected Short Stories of Louis L'Amour: The Frontier Stories - Volume 1
  • The Collected Short Stories of Louis L'Amour: The Frontier Stories - Volume 2
  • The Collected Short Stories of Louis L'Amour: The Frontier Stories - Volume 3
  • The Collected Short Stories of Louis L'Amour: The Adventure Stories - Volume 4
  • The Collected Short Stories of Louis L'Amour: The Frontier Stories - Volume 5
  • The Collected Short Stories of Louis L'Amour: The Crime Stories - Volume 6
  • The Collected Short Stories of Louis L'Amour: The Frontier Stories - Volume 7
  • "Trap of Gold"
  • "The Gift of Cochise"

Non-fiction

  • Education Of A Wandering Man
  • Frontier
  • The Sackett Companion
  • A Trail Of Memories: The Quotations Of Louis L'Amour (compiled by Angelique L'Amour)

Poetry

  • Smoke From This Altar



Compilations with other authors

  • The Golden West
  • Stagecoach
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Thursday, June 4, 2009

Thriller - horse racing - Francis

Dick Francis CBE (b. Richard Stanley Francis, 1920, Wales); British horse racing crime writer and retired jockey. Son of a jockey and stable manager.
He flew fighters and bombers in the RAF for six years. After WWII, he won more than 350 races in British National Hunt racing and was Champion Jockey in 1953 and 1954.
From 1953 to 1957 he was jockey to Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. In 1957 a serious fall forced his retirement. His most famous jockey moment came as he rode the Queen Mother's horse, Devon Loch, in the 1956 Grand National. The horse inexplicably fell when close to winning the race.
In 1957, his autobiography, The Sport of Queens led him to become racing correspondent for the London Sunday Express for 16 years. In 1962, he published Dead Cert. His books are all set in horse racing environs.
His wife, Mary, did much research and editing of his later novels. After her death in 2000, Francis wrote nothing until Under Orders. Dead Heat and Silks were co-written by his son Felix, his manager and now research assistant. Felix was the inspiration for a character in Twice Shy. His son, Merrick, racehorse trainer and later horse transporter, inspired Driving Force.
Autobiography:
· The Sport of Queens (1957)
Collections:
Anthologies:
Novels:
With Felix Francis:
Series:
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