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Nicky

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When did books become readily available for the public? I know books were available in the 1500's, but when did they become readily available and when did the 'common man' have the teaching to be able to read?
 
Nicky said:
When did books become readily available for the public? I know books were available in the 1500's, but when did they become readily available and when did the 'common man' have the teaching to be able to read?

I don't know the answers to these questions, but I did read a good book last week. It is called RANGER CONFIDENTIAL by Andrea Lankford, and is about being a park ranger. This book gave me a whole new appreciation of some of the situations that park rangers have to deal with on a daily basis. It is a bit R-rated, but I gladly give my endorsement and "thumbs up."

http://www.andrealankford.com/rangerconfidential/rangerconfidential.html
 
I don't know the answer either. :oops:

But I am reading 2 books at the moment. One at Home called Stampede the rise of the West and Canada's new power elite. I find it very interesting about the shift of economic power from eastern Canada to the West mainly Alberta and all the good old Saskatchewan boys running the show out there. :D
The other book is over at dad's and i read it while having morning coffee. It's called Left Out: Saskatchewan's NDP and the Relentless Pursuit of Mediocrity.
I guess living here not much of it surprised me but it is a good read and shows how socialism has held Saskatchewan back.
 
Nicky said:
When did books become readily available for the public? I know books were available in the 1500's, but when did they become readily available and when did the 'common man' have the teaching to be able to read?

I'd guess books only became available and affordable after the development of the printing press. Prior to that I know Bibles were so valuable and so few that they were chained inside the church to avoid being stolen.
 
Big Muddy rancher said:
I don't know the answer either. :oops:

But I am reading 2 books at the moment. One at Home called Stampede the rise of the West and Canada's new power elite. I find it very interesting about the shift of economic power from eastern Canada to the West mainly Alberta and all the good old Saskatchewan boys running the show out there. :D
The other book is over at dad's and i read it while having morning coffee. It's called Left Out: Saskatchewan's NDP and the Relentless Pursuit of Mediocrity.
I guess living here not much of it surprised me but it is a good read and shows how socialism has held Saskatchewan back.

wow..... Would be way to deep for pleasure reading for this ole gal. :roll: :nod:

Give me a mystery romance...
 
katrina said:
Big Muddy rancher said:
I don't know the answer either. :oops:

But I am reading 2 books at the moment. One at Home called Stampede the rise of the West and Canada's new power elite. I find it very interesting about the shift of economic power from eastern Canada to the West mainly Alberta and all the good old Saskatchewan boys running the show out there. :D
The other book is over at dad's and i read it while having morning coffee. It's called Left Out: Saskatchewan's NDP and the Relentless Pursuit of Mediocrity.
I guess living here not much of it surprised me but it is a good read and shows how socialism has held Saskatchewan back.

wow..... Would be way to deep for pleasure reading for this ole gal. :roll: :nod:

Give me a mystery romance...

The first book is more a regional interest book and knowing some of the dynamics and history helps. The second book Left Out is interesting because i have lived through a bunch of this stuff but would be a interesting read for anyone with a political bent. :D
 
BMR, when I was in Mexico I read a book called Frost Bite by Nelson Brunanski. It's a mystery based in small town saskatchewan. It's not totally accurate but it's entertaining and I thought it was neat that I found a book by a Saskatchewan Author based in Saskatchewan.

Another good book I read was King of the Road by Alex Debogorski. Definately one of the best books I've read in a long time, mind you, the books I do read are not very cultured :oops: :lol:
 
Angus Cattle Shower said:
BMR, when I was in Mexico I read a book called Frost Bite by Nelson Brunanski. It's a mystery based in small town saskatchewan. It's not totally accurate but it's entertaining and I thought it was neat that I found a book by a Saskatchewan Author based in Saskatchewan.

Another good book I read was King of the Road by Alex Debogorski. Definately one of the best books I've read in a long time, mind you, the books I do read are not very cultured :oops: :lol:

At least reading King of the Road you wouldn't have to listen to Alex's laugh. :lol: :lol: :lol:
 
Angus Cattle Shower said:
BMR, when I was in Mexico I read a book called Frost Bite by Nelson Brunanski. It's a mystery based in small town saskatchewan. It's not totally accurate but it's entertaining and I thought it was neat that I found a book by a Saskatchewan Author based in Saskatchewan.

Another good book I read was King of the Road by Alex Debogorski. Definately one of the best books I've read in a long time, mind you, the books I do read are not very cultured :oops: :lol:

Me too! :oops:
 
Big Muddy rancher said:
Angus Cattle Shower said:
BMR, when I was in Mexico I read a book called Frost Bite by Nelson Brunanski. It's a mystery based in small town saskatchewan. It's not totally accurate but it's entertaining and I thought it was neat that I found a book by a Saskatchewan Author based in Saskatchewan.

Another good book I read was King of the Road by Alex Debogorski. Definately one of the best books I've read in a long time, mind you, the books I do read are not very cultured :oops: :lol:

At least reading King of the Road you wouldn't have to listen to Alex's laugh. :lol: :lol: :lol:

But everyone had to listen to THIS Alex laugh!
 
Just finishing a book called The Power of One by Bryce Courtnay. Best book I've read since Kane and Abel.
Next I'm on the hunt for Bowler-Hatted Cowboy by John Onslow who was a rancher long since gone that ranched a couple of miles from here. Apparently it's a good read.
 
I recently brought home from the library a book by Pearl S. Buck titled "The Good Earth". written in 1932 (I think). I am now looking to find a copy for my own library.

Anybody who loves the land could enjoy this meaningful story about a Chinese peasant who started with almost nothing and built great wealth and holdings by hard work on his land and using opportunity as it came along. A terrific read that resonates with anyone who values the land and all that it means.
 
But that doesn't answer your question of when books became widely available!

More to the question, I found this about Gutenburg, who invented the first press with movable type in the West -

"By 1452, with the aid of borrowed money, Gutenberg began his famous Bible project. Two hundred copies of the two-volume Gutenberg Bible were printed, a small number of which were printed on vellum. The expensive and beautiful Bibles were completed and sold at the 1455 Frankfurt Book Fair, and cost the equivalent of three years' pay for the average clerk. Roughly fifty of all Gutenberg Bibles survive today."

So as printing became more affordable and efficient, literacy also climbed from the 15th century onward, contributing to the Renaissance and Reformation.

http://www.historyguide.org/intellect/press.html
 
burnt said:
I recently brought home from the library a book by Pearl S. Buck titled "The Good Earth". written in 1932 (I think). I am now looking to find a copy for my own library.

Anybody who loves the land could enjoy this meaningful story about a Chinese peasant who started with almost nothing and built great wealth and holdings by hard work on his land and using opportunity as it came along. A terrific read that resonates with anyone who values the land and all that it means.

That was a mandatory read book in Literature class when I was in High School... We discussed it for weeks....

Buck won both the Pulitzer Prize and the Nobel Prize in Literature-- and has a couple more books out that continue the good earth story (altho to me were not as good)- and several good short stories....
 
I am trying to read a Nevada Barr Anna Pigeon novel "Ill Wind"
She is a park ranger in all her novels. It takes place in Mesa Verde in Colorado.
They all are quick reads. Some have romance in them others are just murder mystery. I have read 4 or 5 of her other books all in different parks.

I know last year I started rereading the classics and books I "had" to read in school. Some , what I remember and what I got out of it today are 2 different things. Most I enjoyed more today then back then LOL. I know a couple are not what I remember but then it could be because of growing up and seeing the other side.
 
I know if you read much of the "old west" the cowboys were always trading books around. Part of that was because the books were heavy, but part of it was because books just weren't that available. In all seriousness, paper books really only enjoyed a 100 year run. Now they are all electronic.
 
burnt said:
I recently brought home from the library a book by Pearl S. Buck titled "The Good Earth". written in 1932 (I think). I am now looking to find a copy for my own library.

Anybody who loves the land could enjoy this meaningful story about a Chinese peasant who started with almost nothing and built great wealth and holdings by hard work on his land and using opportunity as it came along. A terrific read that resonates with anyone who values the land and all that it means.

Burnt I read that also many years ago. Very good book.
 
Soapweed said:
Nicky said:
When did books become readily available for the public? I know books were available in the 1500's, but when did they become readily available and when did the 'common man' have the teaching to be able to read?

I don't know the answers to these questions, but I did read a good book last week. It is called RANGER CONFIDENTIAL by Andrea Lankford, and is about being a park ranger. This book gave me a whole new appreciation of some of the situations that park rangers have to deal with on a daily basis. It is a bit R-rated, but I gladly give my endorsement and "thumbs up."

http://www.andrealankford.com/rangerconfidential/rangerconfidential.html

You might like the Sid Marty books Soapweed. He was a Banff Park Warden.
http://www.sidmarty.com/books
 
Jigger Boss said:
Soapweed said:
Nicky said:
When did books become readily available for the public? I know books were available in the 1500's, but when did they become readily available and when did the 'common man' have the teaching to be able to read?

I don't know the answers to these questions, but I did read a good book last week. It is called RANGER CONFIDENTIAL by Andrea Lankford, and is about being a park ranger. This book gave me a whole new appreciation of some of the situations that park rangers have to deal with on a daily basis. It is a bit R-rated, but I gladly give my endorsement and "thumbs up."

http://www.andrealankford.com/rangerconfidential/rangerconfidential.html

You might like the Sid Marty books Soapweed. He was a Banff Park Warden.
http://www.sidmarty.com/books

Thanks for the tip. I'll have to check that out.
 
Soapweed said:
Jigger Boss said:
Soapweed said:
I don't know the answers to these questions, but I did read a good book last week. It is called RANGER CONFIDENTIAL by Andrea Lankford, and is about being a park ranger. This book gave me a whole new appreciation of some of the situations that park rangers have to deal with on a daily basis. It is a bit R-rated, but I gladly give my endorsement and "thumbs up."

http://www.andrealankford.com/rangerconfidential/rangerconfidential.html

You might like the Sid Marty books Soapweed. He was a Banff Park Warden.
http://www.sidmarty.com/books

Thanks for the tip. I'll have to check that out.

Here's a sneak peek, you can read some here, just click on "look inside"...
http://www.amazon.ca/Men-Mountains-Sid-Marty/dp/0771056729/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1325900638&sr=1-2

http://www.amazon.ca/Leaning-Wind-Under-Spell-Chinook/dp/189497462X/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1325900638&sr=1-4

http://www.amazon.ca/Black-Grizzly-Whiskey-Creek/dp/0771056982/ref=pd_sim_b_3

http://www.amazon.ca/Switchbacks-True-Stories-Canadian-Rockies/dp/0771056702/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1325900638&sr=1-3
 

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