Book Review: Aidmheil

I grilled Kevin from the cell phone on the way home, "Did I get any books in the mail today?" "No, I don't think so." "Dammit." "Well, you got one envelope with something in it, but it's small." MY BOOK.

I sat patiently through typical I95 traffic and considered two things: book and sloppy joes for dinner (we had a retro 1983 night complete with manwiches for dinner). When I got home, there it was. My book. (People do act like this, right? It's not weird to get excited about books. Totally normal. Books and the latest issue of Juxtapoz. Makes me smile every time.)

First of all, the book is little and green and has silver print. I like all of these things. There is a serif font, which I normally do not like, but it's attractive enough, so I will forgive the serif. A pleasing package. I do judge books by their cover. If it isn't aesthetically pleasing, I won't give it a second glance in the store. I would touch this book if it was on a shelf. Bonus: there's a haiku on the back cover that uses the word awesome. And a happy shamrock on the spine.

Immediately following dinner, I dove in. Let me be honest, I like this book. (I should be reading the Uniform Commercial Code right now, but that's a whole different story....) I came across Jessica Stover on Blogging.la whenever the Star Wars Nerds thing was happening. She has an original voice and writes engaging stories. I'm very particular about who I read and I'm often easily disappointed when I try new writers. I don't think that my tastes are easily categorized, unless Douglas Coupland, Christopher Moore, Janet Evanovich and Jennifer Weiner all fit into an easy mold. It is official: Jessica Stover is now on the list of authors that I like. Little does she know what a burden this can be. I am a high maintenance fan and I don't understand why there isn't a new book by each of these writers EVERY SINGLE TIME I GO INTO BORDERS.

Time for the critique. I'll be honest, I zone out during poems. While reading a couple of them, my mind totally wandered. I read a couple to Pal. He chirped and meeped, so I think he liked them. I ADORED Dust, Wind and Stone. There's something about a girl taking a trip alone in the desert that speaks to me. Greyfeather was v. good and Revenge of the Nerds still makes me laugh. And who doesn't like haiku? Everyone immediately starts to make one up in their mind, counting the syllables on their fingers.

Plus, Jessica Stover uses parenthesis. (Because there are things that need to be said that don't fit with the rest of the paragraph, people.)

So, here's what I'm saying - give it a try. There's something in there for everyone. I think I might even be able to get Kevin to read it and that's an accomplishment since he's been reading Microserfs for close to four years. (You read that right. Four years. On one book. He's only, like, halfway done, which makes it even worse.) Now, I have to get back to studying. If I fail Sales and Leases, it's Jessica Stover's fault. Not mine.