Dick Francis Reading Group discussion

I've been making some long-overdue updates to the DickFrancisBooks.com website. Once upon a time we had several polls going, but the site that hosted them shut down. Now that Goodreads has group polls, I thought I would set one up for us:

http://www.goodreads.com/poll/list/28...

There were other polls we had as well, so I'll probably add those later. If you have ideas for polls, feel free to start one or post the idea here.

I read my first in 1970 ("Dead Cert"), when DF was described as "A Racing Alistair McLean", another of my heroes. I've not stopped since - he gets into thwe blood does DF.
Chris
(In Cyprus).

I think since about the 70's, the first was Forfeit and suprisingly I wasn't sure at first it I liked it and it took me awhile to read it, but after that I was off and running, next was Dead Cert which I loved. My favorites, however, as with many others, are the Sid Halley seried.
Deb Smith

I wonder if I am the longest-standing fan around here? I read my first in approx. 1965, it was For Kicks. I was in my teens, on school holiday in the summer, and my mother and I got into the habit of listening to the afternoon book reading on BBC radio - For Kicks! We got hooked. And after that we went out and got whatever else by Dick Francis we could get our hands on. At that time there was only Dead Cert and Nerve, so we eagerly awaited each new book every year from then on!

Very cool, Alison! You should go vote in the poll and click on "Since the very beginning." You would be the first one to choose that option in this particular poll.

My dad had "Twice Shy" checked out from the library in 1985. I read the first sentence of it and was hooked immediately. I eventually read all the DF mysteries and am glad he (with Felix) is still writing. I'm enjoying "Silks" at the moment.

1983 for me, I wish I'd discovered them sooner.

About 1969, I read a Reader's Digest version of Nerve, then went and got the full book from the library. My next book was Enquiry. Did I mention I was 11 at the time?

My first was a Reader's Digest version of Break In. :) But I wasn't 11! That's great, Sue.

I've been reading them since the early 70s. My father introduced me to them. There are now more Dick Francis titles on my book shelf than any other author.

since 1990, started with one of his best : Whip Hand.

I just checked out the poll results, and I must admit, I envy those who have just found Dick Francis because they have many, many wonderful reads in front of them. I discovered Dick Francis in 1977 when I read a Readers' Digest condensed edition of IN THE FRAME. I loved the horsey details, and of course, the mystery. I read every available Dick Francis after that, and his wonderful descriptions of the horse world changed my life. I quit my government job and went to work in the horse industry for 30-plus years. Later, I ended up publishing four mysteries set in the horse world. If you are interested in checking them out, visit www.kitehrman.com.

I have read Kit Ehreman's books. They are very good. You won't go wrong it you try one! Sasscer Hill

I have them all and have been reading him since the early seventies

I am 50 now and began reading them when I was 13 or 14 , in no particular order until I had read them all . Since then I have read them as they came out usually just before every Xmas . I dont think they are as good anymore since felix alone took over but I still read them all.

Like Klf, I started reading him in the early seventies. His books were like friends that kept me
from being lonely.
http://SasscerHill.com/

Sasscer wrote: "His books were like friends that kept me from being lonely.

Love that!!

I would say mid/late 80s. A friend of mine loved his books and urged me to try them, but I don't think I did until a couple of years later. My first may have been Break In, but I'm not sure. I do know my local supermarket carried his paperbacks - my town had no bookstore - and over the next several months, I wound up buying every one they had in stock! I still own most of those.
The first hardback I bought was The Edge, and it was rather a big deal because I didn't make much money then. Nevertheless, I was hooked by then and HAD TO HAVE IT, so I skipped a few meals and bought it. I just reread that one again last week and enjoyed his crisp writing and plotting once more.
I consider the late 70s-the mid 90s to be the golden years of his writing.

I started reading DF books by chance in the early seventies whilst doing a train journey on the recommendation of the book shop salesman on the railway platform claiming that "he was the new mystry writer that everyone asks for!" I could not put it down and literally read it non-stop and thereafter got every single book as they were published. Whilst visiting the US it was most fortunate for me to meet him as COMEBACK was being released in 1991. He very graciously signed the book and it has been my treasured possession till now. Sadly, as I am relocating due to my age and health condition, it is now available to any collector for about $40 plus postage etc from India. You may contact me at sarkarsweet@gmail.com - Ashit Sarkar

I first read High Stakes in 1977 (at 13 years) and was hooked. Perhaps because it was my first, it remains my favourite. I learned from Knock Down that I wanted to be a bloodstock agent, which was a new one on my careers teacher, who told me I lacked the potential to go into medicine! Thanks to Dick Francis, I left school and went straight into the racing industry and my ambition to write professionally eventually came to be, too. My proudest moment was a book review that described me as "Ireland's Dick Francis". Which also shows he remains the measure of all racing fiction.

I've been reading him since 1986.