My book of bedtime stories? Huge light blue book with pictures of the characters on front and inside the cover. Beautiful thick pages with each first letter having vines/ flowers. One fairy tale was about a poor boy who had to do heaps of tasks in order to marry the king’s daughter. Like row a boat on land and catch heaps of rabbits? Ect. I think another story may have been called Princess Gloria. She was locked in a dungeon and had to sort through millions of coloured threads. Another story was called The Fountain of Youth. And I think The Little Match Girl was also in this book. Please, please help me find this book. I have been searching for it for 20 years. So looking forward to hearing from you.
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325C: The sea, New England, disappearances. . .
I am looking for a book that I had started many years ago as a tween but have since forgotten the title. I never finished it, but what I can remember was that it had a dark (possibly black) cover. In terms of plot I believe it had something to do with mysterious disappearances, where people where inexplicably called or lured into the sea and never seen again. I believe it was set in New England in a coastal town. It would have been a hardcover around the time of 2000-2005. I think there was something about a man and his father having gone into the ocean. Maybe a sea monster? I didn’t get far enough into the story to figure out why the people were disappearing. I believe it was a book for adults. I don’t think it was part of a series. The time period was modern. I don’t know if it was mystery or horror, as I never finished it. I think it might’ve been classified as mystery. I don’t think it was a young adult book and I believe it had a male author
325B: The Wonderful Fashion Doll
Looking for a book in which a doll with a trunk full of its clothes is discovered in the wall of an attic by children.
325A: Pubescent Children Develop Telepathic Powers
There’s a novel that I read years ago (late 70’s or early 80’s) from a library in England for which I can no longer remember the author or the title; so if you recognize the content, I’d be a happy camper. 🙂
The only things I can remember are…
1/ It was about mental powers, telepathy, etc
2/ Children developed these abilities at or around puberty (I think). If I remember correctly, the general populace/government reacted badly to these children.
3/ There was a woman scientist who studied these children and came up with a way to synthesize the catalyst, which she then tried on herself and, after a really rough transition, found that she had the same abilities.
3.1/ I’ve also got a vague recollection (so take it with a grain of salt) that other adults who tried to gain these powers died.
4/ The initial symptom of these powers was an increase in sensory perception and intense pleasure – enough to lock the affected person into repeating whatever felt good regardless of what it was doing to them.
4.1/ The woman scientist/doctor who managed to synthesize the activating chemical and used it on herself ended up “making love” to a tree (I’ve got a dim memory of the description of the feel of the bark against her naked skin).
4.2/ Another scene (probably just a paragraph or sentence) had a description of a boy who kept “pleasuring himself” for hours; even though he was now raw and bleeding, he couldn’t stop. (I think this was one of the notes the scientist/doctor compiled about the affected children, rather than being a central theme or character development).
4.3/ The powers allowed the children to feel the emotions of others (though I do not remember if it was limited to others with powers or everyone in general) and they banded together to feel safe/loved/etc. when the rest of the world turned against them due to fear. I don’t remember if it was true telepathy or just extreme empathy.
5/ Once she had the same abilities as the children, the woman scientist joined up with a group of them – presumably to help defend them against the haters.
Beyond that, I have no idea. The only other non-story items I know are…
- I read it late-70’s or early 80’s.
- Given the more grown-up content, it is not likely to be a children’s book; though it could be Teens and older.
I know it’s not much to go on, but it’s been driving me batty trying to remember the title.
324Z: Sports Car Race With Dirty Oil
When I was a kid in the 1950’s, I read a series of ‘car books’ about a young man who became interested in sports car racing. I remember that the name of the car manufacturer was ‘black’ something and as an advertising promotion, they once drove one of the cars many, many miles (20,000+?) without an oil change, and then entered the car in a sports car race.
Any of this sound familiar to anyone?
324Y: Fairies and Giants and Creatures In One Massive Compilation
324X: People Do Their Night Jobs
324W: Dinosaurs Galore
324V: Picture Book About Girl And Beloved Doll
324U: Glass Children House/Castle
I recall reading a book as an early teen in the 90's about a group of children with harsh parents and the title was something along the lines of ". . . . . . . ,houses of glass".