A good book

It's pretty incredible that a book can do so much to lift my spirits. It doesn't even have to be a particularly cheery story - if there's a solid plot and excellent writing, I instantly feel better about myself. It's like I have something to look forward to at the end of the day when I'm nestled in bed, or on my subway ride home from work. I like taking little dips out of a good book. Read a few sentences here, maybe a few paragraphs there...and then setting it down feeling as if I've just had a cool sip of water on a hot, dry day.

My current infatuation is with My Mistress' Sparrow is Dead, a collection of love stories compiled by the awe-inspiring Jeffrey Eugenides. I'm about 5 stories in, and I've already felt horror, joy, revulsion, compassion. They're not purely stories about love between a man and a woman, but love between families...friends. As Eugenides says, "...love imparts a profound wistfulness, in which the evanescence of love expands to suggest the fragility of life and time and memory itself..."

The production of this book is a wonder. The pages smell crisp and clean, yet somehow with a hint of age. It's hardcover but the artwork is printed directly onto the front cover, foregoing the hassle of a jacket flap. It's just a beautiful book overall and one of the best gifts I've ever received.