Trask Avenue

The time has come for a decision. What an exciting occasion! What a stimulating moment!

This is a moment filled with unbridled expectation and wild choices. With possibilities. What lies before us is a tableau shining with life and it winks seductively, bursting with promise and unlimited potential. We know our future is in play and we unabashedly love it.

This is a moment to weigh and understand what matters right now, to recognize and follow the proper course which will give our soul and our mind what they need. Of course the choice involves a measure of risk because every important decision carries risk. But it’s a burden we happily bear and willingly embrace. We relish this opportunity; we want to hold the key. Yes, my friends, it’s time to pick a book to read!

As I finished my last book I assumed the next one would be A Tale of Two Cities by Dickens. I’ve never read it and every now and then I get a hankering to read a “classic.” I bought a copy over the weekend at a “Buy 2 Get 1 Free” sale to sate this latest craving. After buying a book there’s a certain amount of guilt to immediately get to it. I was still 97% convinced A Tale of Two Cities was the way to go until I started browsing through the scores of unread books sitting on the shelves, books which have been waiting in the queue much longer than this new volume of old Dickens.

I saw T.C. Boyle’s Talk Talk and remembered how much I’ve always enjoyed his verbal gymnastics and biting commentary. I flirted with James Ellroy’s L.A. Confidential which appeals to my love of noir. I looked over the stuff recently purchased in England and fondled David Nicholls’ One Day, despite the critical panning the recent film adaptation received. (You’re forgiven, Anne Hathaway.) I considered rereading The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn because you can never go wrong with Twain. The decision got muddied.

More choices leapt out as I further scanned the bookcases. Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, Chabon’s The Yiddish Policeman’s Union, Russo’s Empire Falls. I noticed a slew of John D. MacDonald mysteries and Janet Evanovich’s delightful Stephanie Plum adventures, each one begging to be picked up and enjoyed like a drunk on a Saturday night. This continued through Jasper Fforde and Jan Karon, Lawrence Block and Elizabeth George. I saw the half finished A People’s History of the United States and thought about the Occupy Wall Street folks. And on and on and on…

This is a thrilling moment and, as everyday moments go, one of the finest. Perhaps there is some risk involved, but it’s the best kind of risk – the risk between a great decision and a merely good one. I can’t wait to make it.