Bookstore

I decided to start something I've always wanted to do. In part because I married an English teacher, I spend a lot of time in bookstores. Kathy always lingers a bit longer than I would on my own, so I end up wandering around. What I am going to is read a book a chapter at a time whenever I'm in a bookstore.

I needed to select a book, but it had to fit a few criteria. It should be a book that I probably wouldn't buy. It should be a book that I wanted to read. It should be a pretty easy read, given that I'd have to read it in 10 minute chunks. Lastly, it needed to be a book that would be available in most book stores. Two books came to mind, both tagged as "Young Adult" -- Peter Cameron's Someday This Pain Will Be Useful To You, and Nick Hornby's Slam. I read an article last year about how publishers are more and more labeling books as Young Adult, mostly because they're not racy enough.

I went to college with Peter Cameron, so I've been a loyal reader. I suspected this book would require a bit too much thought for my project. So, I went with the Nick Hornby.

I'm through chapter one, and I'm very pleased with my choice. Hornby is funny and real and honest, and writes with a voice I can understand. I loved Fever Pitch and High Fidelity, and I was pleased when a line in Slam echoed one of the great lines in the film adaptation of High Fidelity:

I mean, I've read books like "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" and "Love in the Time of Cholera", and I think I've understood them. They're about girls, right? Just kidding. But I have to say my all-time favorite book is Johnny Cash's autobiography "Cash" by Johnny Cash.

I'm a big fan of redundancy.