# 19 A Sad Affair With A Horse, A Man and Daughter and Holden

Reading a good book--one of the finer "to dos" in life. I can't seem to get enough of it and not surprisingly, it was #1 on my goal list to read 6000 pages. I have passed the half way mark, however, goal # 32-- read 6 books published in 1951--has been successfully transferred to the done pile. The six were selected from a list of the best books published in 1951 ( I love the search engines on the internet!) Below are the books and a brief comment on each one.

1. The Ballad of the Sad Cafe and Other Stories by Carson McCullers. This book was definitely not a happy read, but the stories were gripping and unforgettable. The author's life was as sad and tragic as her writing.

2. An Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury—Martians, Mars, and yours truly were not a good combination, but I did finish it with no malice towards old Ray.

3. The Black Stallion’s Fury by Walter Farley--Ride, baby, ride. Give me a horse book any day--even if it is children's literature.

4. The End of an Affair by Graham Greene. Read it, enjoy it, and marvel at Greene's writing.

5. The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger— There has been plenty written about this book so all I have to say is thank heavens we survived the teenage years without a "Holden" in our lives.

6. A Daughter in Time by Josephine Tey--Better than Agatha Christie, but not as well known. It was a compelling mystery with historic twists throughout the novel. Quite appropriate read while the royal wedding was taking place.

Lessons learned on this goal--Discovering books published in another decade can be enlightening and; skip the science fiction genre--sorry Ray.