Yesterday’s prompt was what was your favorite 3 books and what impact did they have on your life. I did not have time to answer that one, but since this prompt is about books also, I will combine the two. Pretty clever, huh. I can’t tell you what my favorite book was from childhood, but I can tell you my favorite series. It was the Hardy Boys, good old Frank and Joe Hardy. Another series I read was Bronc Burnett, about a high school football player. These books did 2 things. It got me into the habit of reading, and it got me hooked on books that had a continuing cast of characters or a main character. In my adult life I have read a lot of books. My two favorite authors are Ed McBain and Michael Connelly. I have read other books by them, but their two main series are the 87th Precinct novels by McBain and the Harry Bosch novels by Connelly. The 87th Precinct books started in 1956 and ended around 2005 when McBain died. There are about 52 books in the series and thanks to E Bay I have them all. I would say I read about 30 to 35 of them in various order by the time I acquired all of the books. Then I simply started with the first one and read them in order. Even though the books covered almost 50 years McBain only aged the detectives about 16 years. He also repeated clues from some of his early works to help solve cases. He had lots of little quirky things in these books that made them unique and fun to read. If you only read one 87th Precinct novel, read the one titled Kiss. I don’t want to say why but you will know when you finish the book. McBain was one of the most prolific writers I have every seen. He also wrote under the name of Evan Hunter. He wrote one book under both names. Connelly’s Bosch novels are pretty close to masterpieces. None of them disappoint but again if you had to read just one, I would recommend A Darkness More Than Night. One of the best books he wrote was Blood Work, a non-Bosch novel. If you have seen the movie, don’t worry it is nothing like the book. This book has the best ending of all time. They did not use it in the movie for whatever reason. I don’t know what impact all these books had on me, but I have always enjoyed reading and felt I have learned so much from all kinds of books.
Not To Expect Much From The Writing Prompts
Yes, that is the last thing I learned is not to expect much from the writing prompts. Now I know this has to be a pretty thankless job, so if I am going to be critical maybe I should help out. I did this once, pretty much as a joke. This time I am going to get serious and off the top of my empty head I am going to try to put out at least 10 good writing prompts and feel free to write about any of them.
- What is the worst vacation you have ever had?
- What is your strategy when you have to buy a car?
- Do you believe in the adage you can choose you friends but not your relatives and how has that worked out for you?
- What was your worst and best restaurant experience?
- What are your feelings about organized religion.
- Can you legislate morality?
- Is a college education worth it?
- Will you retire or work until you drop dead?
- What happens after you die?
- Is it safe to discuss politics today?
Well, there it is and have at it. That should keep you busy for a while. I may even write about a few of those subjects myself. What is the last thing I really learned? Quite frankly, I do not remember. First of all, define learn. Did I find out about something that I did not know before or did I learn a new skill. The former I did this morning and the latter I did about 50 years ago. I would be curious, how many new skills do you learn after the age of 25. You might hone some previously learned skills but to learn a totally new skill after that age I do not think it happens that often, but I am probably wrong. Wait a minute, I forgot, I am just like my father. He always told me, son I may not always be right, but I am never wrong.
The Goofy Game of Golf/Life Searching for the Answer 