I remember reading books, do you?

I used to read books a lot more than I do now. Let's face it, besides newspapers and (paper) magazines, books were the only source for this kind of pastime before the advent of the WWW. Comic books you say? My Dad forbade me from reading or owning comic books. I can't recall his exact reasoning for this restriction, something about them being "silly, worthless, and non-educational". My friends' old copies of Superman, The Hulk, and Spiderman found their way into my hands on occasion, so I did get my comic book fix every once in a while.

My choice of reading material was the paperback novel. I read lots and lots of paperbacks in my pre-teen years. Most of these were adventure stories, war stories, Hardy Boys, and...James Bond novels. From 1962 (I was 12 that year) until 1965 or so, I read all of Ian Fleming's stories about the British Secret Service agent...double oh seven!

Beginning with Dr. No, I couldn't wait for the next one to come out. The order in which I read them corresponded to the release of the motion pictures. In other words, I read the book...then saw the movie (sometimes, the other way around). By the way, the Bond films (22 of them) were not made in the same order in which Fleming's books were published. In fact, Casino Royale was the first Bond book, published in 1953. It was made into a movie (the first time) in 1967, then again in 2006. The '67 version didn't resemble past Bond flicks as it was a comedy spy-spoof about an aging Bond (played by David Niven) coming out of retirement to concoct a plan to thwart the evil SMERSH organization. It also starred Peter Sellars, Ursula Andress, Woody Allen, and a host of other contract players from that studio. Orson Welles handled the part of Le Chiffre (one of the actual evil-doers from the novel and the 2006 film). Consequently, the 1967 Casino Royale isn't really considered a "Bond film" by fans (including yours truly). Dr. No, the first Bond flick, came out in 1962. Followed by From Russia, With Love ('63), Goldfinger ('64), and Thunderball ('65), etc, etc. In fact, the last line in the credits from those films always mentioned the next Bond movie, already in production.

Yup, I actually read 'em all. And, of course, I've seen all the films. Ian Fleming passed away in 1964. The James Bond book legacy continued on though, most written by a guy named John Gardner. Fleming's 007 novels ended with Octopussy and The Living Daylights.

My favorite Bond book? From Russia, With Love. My favorite Bond movie? , With From Russia, With Love? My favorite movie Bond? C'mon...let's be "real"!