Local family dentist Dr. Ralph “Rocky” Cooper keeps a well-used shelf of books in the reception area of his dental office for patients to borrow or exchange, often discussing literature as well as teeth with his clients.

His love of books was instilled in early childhood by his parents, who were both teachers, in their home in Paducah, where he was born and raised. They read to Cooper and his brother nightly.

During elementary school, Cooper’s reading habits were reinforced by the SRA reading program, a modular learning kit with which students worked independently, progressing through each color level by passing a quiz. He has not forgotten the excitement of ascending to gold at the top of the “color” ladder. His first personal library was a set of Little Golden Books; the sublime children’s classic, “Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel” by Virginia Lee Burton, remains a favorite today.

In 1985, after graduating from Centre College and the University of Kentucky School of Dentistry, Cooper settled in Bowling Green with his wife and two children to establish his dental practice. They continued the bedtime stories tradition of his parents with their own son and daughter, both of whom are now habitual readers. Even though he embraces digital technology for X-rays and patient files at work, Cooper says he prefers the feel, design and graphics of physical books to e-readers, and likes to see his collection on display at home. In addition to evening reading, he fits in more novels by listening to audiobooks in his car, most recently “The Buckskin Line” by Elmer Kelton, prolific author of more than 40 Westerns.

Modern mystery fiction and historical spy fiction are Cooper’s preferred genres. His list of favorite authors includes – might even be topped by – Alan Furst, master of the historical espionage novel, whose area of expertise is Europe in the 1930s and ’40s, leading up to and including World War II. Cooper recommends “Night Soldiers” as a fine example of Furst’s extensive research and elegant style.

This past year, Cooper delved into the subgenre of Scandinavian noir, including titles by Swedes Hakan Nesser – he just finished “Borkmann’s Point” – and Henning Mankell, whose newest work, “The Man From Beijing,” was a recent selection of his local book club. Also in the queue were “Redbreast and Nemesis” by the young Norwegian writer Jo Nesbo. Each of these three authors has won the “Glass Key Award” for best Nordic crime novel.

Cooper is currently reading “The Man Who Went up in Smoke” by Swedish husband-and-wife team Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo, the second in their legendary Decalogue, written between 1965 and 1975, featuring Chief Inspector Martin Beck and his team from the Stockholm Homicide Squad. The Beck series pioneered many elements of the modern police procedure and led the transformation of the “whodunit” into a more respected, complex literary form laced with social commentary. Their novel, “The Laughing Policeman,” remains the only work in translation ever to have won America’s Edgar Award.

Most Scandinavian crime novels are very plot-driven, says Cooper, with a concentration on the cerebral aspect of the detectives’ sleuthing, contrasted with the American focus on the infallibility, derring-do, gunplay and “cool” factor of its gumshoes. “Don’t misinterpret me, though, because I love American noir. I cut my teeth on the hard-boiled crime fiction of Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, John D. McDonald, Lawrence Block and Robert Parker. In fact, my wife and I named our son after the character Travis McGee from McDonald’s 21-volume series.”

— By Libby Davies, Barnes & Noble Booksellers.