If I were in charge of a publishing house, these are the books I’d reprint in a Seattle second. I once hoped that someone would be interested in reprinting them all in a “Book Lust Reissues” series; but, I suppose, since the prospects for selling thousands of these are minimal, even though they’re all terrific reads, well-written (whatever that means), not particularly dated, and would add so much to the enjoyment of many readers, that’ll never happen — Sigh. In any case, I’d buy them up by the caseload and give them to all my friends:
Lee Colgate’s Oh, Be Careful
Merle Miller’s A Gay and Melancholy Sound (and his other novels)
All of Gladys Taber’s books
All of Elizabeth Cadell’s novels
All of D.E. Stevenson’s novels
All the thrillers Howard Fast wrote as E.V. Cunningham with girls’ names as titles, especially Phyllis – a great cold war thriller
All of Betty Cavanna’s novels
All of Peggy Goodin’s novels
All of Ruth Doan McDougall’s novels, especially One Minus One and The Cost of Living (Only The Cheerleader and Snowy are in print. The Cheerleader, especially, is fabulous; but I’d love to see her other books available, too.)
Kit Reed’s At War as Children
Kaye Starbird’s The Lion in the Lei Shop
All of Mary Stolz’s teen novels (I can provide a list if requested.)
Nora Johnson’s A Step Beyond Innocence
Diane Johnson’s Loving Hands at Home
Ross Thomas mystery novels. Have found a few
(Briarpatch, Chinaman’s Chance) but would like to read more of his crazy character filled stories.
You named my two all-time favorite Ross Thomas novels, but many of the others are back in print, which is great news for thriller fans like me.
I forgot to mention that reprint publishers like http://www.imagecascade.com and http://www.nybook.com have obviously discovered that many Babyboomers are eager to buy and re-read favorites from their younger years–and to give them to their young relatives as well.
Hope more publishers jump on to this reprint bandwagon–the shrinking supply of many out-of-print books (partly due to the few existing copies being snapped up by collectors via internet booksales) can’t keep up with the demand. Publishers, listen up: “We want more reprints!!”
Yes – I have copies of many of both Image Cascade and New York Review Books – thank goodness for them. But there are so many more that I really would love to see available again. I don’t know that Helen Cresswell book, although I love her Bagthorpe books.
Just discovered your blog, so don’t know if you’ve ever mentioned reprints by New York Review of Books (www.NYbooks.com ) especially their reprints of some much-loved children’s books–including two of my favorites by Barbara Sleigh, “Carbonnel, King of Cats” and “The Kingdom of Carbonnel”.
Some OP faves of mine (which both children and older readers can enjoy) which I keep buying used and giving away” are “Tomas Takes Charge” (aka “Children in Hiding”) by Charlene Joy Talbot, and “The Nightwatchmen” by Helen Cresswell (I’ve forgotten exact verse from Old Testament which helped inspire character named Josh who has been writing a “travel” book for ages–but for whom the journey rather than its end is what’s important.
Alexander & the Magic Mouse, by Martha Sanders, Illustrated by Philippe Fix.
The book that made me fall in love with reading and with books. It was a Children’s Book of the Month Club selection in the early 70s. Gorgeous drawings, and even lovelier story.
Seeing Ruth Doan McDougall on your list–especially THE COST OF LIVING–made me gasp. I must have read that book ten times when my kids where young, but it was always from the library, thus can’t re-read it now. So now I must stop working and look for a copy somewhere on the web.
Wasn’t it just the best book ever? I just can’t believe so few of her books are in print.
Have you sent your list to Joy at Image Cascade?
http://www.imagecascade.com/index.html
We’ve talked about Betty Cavanna a few years ago, and I keep waiting and hoping, but so far, no go. I do have all the Beany Malone books and the Tobey Heydons and the Dinny Gordons. Love ‘em all.
I was so happy to stumble across your post today! And yes, we have tried repeatedly to contact Betty Cavanna’s son to discuss his thoughts on reprinting some of his mother’s works but so far, no luck! We are also on the search for a couple of other authors’ families, though it’s often a slow process. It took about a year to locate Janet Lambert’s daughter, Jeanne Ann Vanderhoef. But the minute we spoke, we were instant friends and set out to republish all of her mother’s 54 books (and did.) So we will remain diligent. Thank you for your encouraging words and wonderful support over the past 10+ years! –Joy