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I love to read. I think it is something I inherited from my father. Growing up, our house did not have many fancy things. We had one TV and a beat up record player. However, we had tons of books. I remember I was a member of the children's book of month club. I loved getting a brand new book every month to read. Every once in a while I got one that stunk, but not often. One I remember well:

Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

My second grade teacher, Mrs. Healy, read the greatest stories to us. I loved story-time in second grade.

Here are a few of the books I remember from second grade:

James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

Charlotte's Web by E.B. White

When I was a student at Murray Junior High in St. Paul, I remember that I read a lot. I still spent most of my time playing sports and hanging out with my friends at the rec center, but I would spend time every night before going to sleep, reading.

Some of the books I really enjoyed then were anything by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., the Dune trilogy, Catch-22 and any book about The Beatles (it was 1976, I was still hooked on the Beatles because punk hadn't arrived yet).

       Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

       Dune by Frank Herbert

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

In my junior year of high school, I took a year-long class in Shakespeare from the most amazing teacher, Mr. Mike Foley, at St. Paul Academy. We read so many plays (Hamlet, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, Twelfth Night, Midsummer Night's Dream), and I can still remember lines from some of them. 

However, I don't remember reading a lot for enjoyment during High School because there was so much homework that needed doing. Every night, after sports practice, there was three hours of homework to get through. Just no time for pleasure reading.

After high school, I was exposed to a number of authors. A number of books that I was forced to read in college just did not appeal to me. However, there are three authors in particular that I consider my favorites:

D.H. Lawrence, John Steinbeck and Graham Greene.

Sons and Lovers by D.H. Lawrence

    Women in Love by D.H. Lawrence

       East of Eden by John Steinbeck

      Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

     The Third Man by Graham Greene

     The Quiet American by Graham Greene

Now I read books about World War II, traveling, music, science and the occasional mystery.

I also read a lot of magazines.

Here are a few of the books that I have read recently: