So Refreshing...

Although my book is intended mainly for the entertainment of boys and girls, I hope it will not be shunned by men and women on that account, for part of my plan has been to pleasantly remind adults of what they once were themselves, and of how they felt and thought and talked, and what queer enterprises they sometimes engaged in.
-- Mark Twain, Preface to Tom Sawyer --

Just a bit of an update here on my Reading Exploits.
It is seldom, and I mean an extremely rare occasion for me to bale out on a book.
But I did so, today.
I could not finish William Golding's The Spire.
I'm sorry Mr. Golding. I tried.
I tried to concentrate. But you lost me!
Perhaps I should not say more than that this was a book that did not appeal to me... the more I read it.
I stopped reading at about page 185 of 223.
Think about that for a minute. I could not even endure the last 17% of a novel?
No.
I could not.
Shouldn't that most often be the best portion?
Yes.
Exactly.
I did not care what happened to that damn spire at this point!

Sitting there in the Starbucks, I just happened to have The Adventures of Tom Sawyer in my backpack.
[One must always have a backup plan!]
And wow! I am just LOVING this book!
This kid is just a wild wild hoot! He is ten bags of mischief!
Reminds me of when I was young and similarly demon-possessed.
Digging into Twain [I wonder if he's related to Shania?]..... umm..... digging into this terrific book after where I've been for the past few days, ahhh....
It's like landing a big ol' bass free-casting, after days of fruitless trolling.
It's like tipping back a frosty-glassed [it's gotta be red] Kool-Aid on a hot summer day!
Or better yet, for us older kids.... an Old Milwaukee!

*********