Sunday, December 25, 2005

Encyclopedia of an ordinary life


I typically read fiction. Lots of it.


The book ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AN ORDINARY LIFE (Crown Publishing , c2005, ISBN 1-4000-8046-0) by Amy Krouse Rosenthal is probably my favorite read this year. (The year is not over yet but up next is some medical thriller that I don't think will be as profound or enlightening.)


And it's not fiction.


It's one woman telling the story of her life through encyclopedia entries and it is wonderful.

I liked the format, the content and the style in which she writes. So many entries resonated loudly within me and my assistant and I chuckled heartily over one part in particular.


The first sentence from the forward:
I was not abused, abandoned, or locked up as a child.

Monday, December 12, 2005

The Colorado Kid


Stephen King's latest book, THE COLORADO KID (Hard Case Crime, c2005, 0-8439-5584-8) has had some tongues wagging in my immediate reading circle of friends. Some people like it, some hate it and with good reason. King himself says in the afterword that this would be the case. I enjoyed it but not as much as some of his other works. I did, however, like the first sentence.
After deciding he would get nothing of interest from the two old men who comprised the entire staff of THE WEEKLY ISLANDER, the feature writer from the Boston Globe took a look at his watch, remarked that he could just make the one-thirty ferry back to the mainland if he hurried, thanked them for their time, dropped some money on the tablecloth, weighted it down with the salt shaker so the stiffish onshore breeze wouldn't blow it away, and hurried down the stone steps from The Grey Gull's patio dining area toward Bay Street and the little town below.

I like a sentence that comes together like that!

I've been sick for the better part of a month but I'm back on an upswing so I'll be back to posting. Please stay tuned...