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Elite Overlord LeSabre™

On that 'Non stop road'
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16
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Continuing this blog series, here's my list of top 10 books. Note a couple things:
First, this is an "all-time" list, meaning there are books on here that were my childhood favorites, as well as ones that I currently enjoy. And some that transcend time.
Second, my definition of "book" is probably more broad and looser than your definition of "book." I have books listed here that you'll find in hotel rooms, in accounting offices, in DMV offices, and in glove compartments of cars.

With that said, here's the list:

1. Quality Inns/Choice Hotels International Travel & Vacation Directory: Hotel chains no longer issue annual printed travel directories, which made a little part of me die inside. These books included maps and amenity lists for each hotel in the Choice family, and the later versions even included property photos. I have copies of these directories dating back to 1979.

2. Haynes Automotive Repair Manuals: These books were all about do-it-yourself car repair, or just learning more about individual components of your car. Included were complete disassembly/assembly procedures for key components such as engines, transmissions, suspension, and brakes. I've owned versions for Buick/Pontiac/Oldsmobile full sized cars, the Chevy Caprice, and the Chrysler New Yorker.

3. Rand McNally Road Atlas: I learned how to read maps at a very young age (7) and these have been a staple of my life ever since. I'd still rather use one of these printed atlases than those newfangled GPS devices. But then again, I'm old-school in a LOT of ways...

4. IRS Form 1040 Filing Instructions: Growing up, my parents had a tax accountant named Judy visit every winter to work on their taxes. I always looked forward to her visits since when she was done, I'd always get two things: A pocket calendar and this booklet explaining how to fill out tax forms. I found these strangely fasinating, and it might have had something to do with pursuing a finance degree in college lol

5. JVC HR-S5902U Instruction Manual: User guide for my VCR, which is still kicking 11 years later. Yes, I'm one of those people that actually reads the manual.

6. 1996 Buick Full-Line Brochure: '96 was notable since it was the last year of the Roadmaster and the last year of the A-body Century, and the only year those two cars overlapped with the Skylark that didn't have the ugly pointed beak out front. Lots of really nice pics of their entire lineup in this book.

7. Girl Friends (manga) by Milk Morinaga: About time a work of fiction showed up here, isn't it? A very cute and sweet yuri manga. Two oversized volumes, so it's not like some of those series that just goes on and on (and spawn anime that goes on and on)

8. Quality Inn, Anderson, SC Hotel Services Directory: These are the in-room guides that have information about the specific hotel and area restaurant listings. Normally they don't let you take them from the room, but my last stay there was right before they renovated and changed brands so they let me have a copy anyway lol

9. 2000 Buick LeSabre Owner's Manual: Straight from the glove compartment, this is the thick manual that details the car's controls and basic maintenance procedures. Whenever my parents would go into Wal-Mart, I'd stay in the car, open the glove compartment, and read through this until they came back. Only gripe is that it's not full color (the owner's manual for our 1992 Chevy full size van was, and even had a section that was like a mini-DMV driver's manual, which brings us to our final entry...)

10. New York State Driver's Manual: Though I live in North Carolina, I grew up in, and took my driving test in New York, and for awhile after I turned 16, my nose was pretty much buried in this book. Not a bad read, and certainly better than any of the crap we read for English literature class (which you'll notice does not appear at all on this list.)
 
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