Taking a tiny break from fiction novels, I picked up a couple of thin non-fiction books that were quite interesting to read. One of these was a book all about the subject of irony, "The Big Book of Irony". (The book all by itself is ironic, because it's not even that big! ^_~) I love irony. I really liked all the ironic quotes and stories mentioned in this book. Just like a sense of humor, I believe a sense of irony is a wonderful thing to have. Of course, a lot of the ironic examples mentioned in the book are pretty morbid, for example: Say a guy is in the mood for a Coke, so he hops on a bike to go to a nearby gas station or something. Suddenly a truck runs over the guy and kills him. What was the truck delivering? Coke! Ooh, the irony. =P A less gruesome example is if a thief with no teeth in his mouth is caught and arrested for stealing toothbrushes. You probably get the idea by now. So basically, this was a good book that explored irony and it's history, definitions and many uses. (Doesn't the irony of the cover just take the cake or what?)
The other book I read that I finished more recently was of a very different tone altogether. It's kind of the memoirs of a prolific author that I've never heard about, but who used to be a teacher and got a lot of his ideas from his experiences and the letters students wrote him when he visited schools. It's called "Invitations to the World". When I randomly picked it out from the library, I thought the subtitle "Teaching and Writing for the Young" meant it would teach me a little about writing. It didn't exactly do that, but it was still a good book anyway. It included excerpts from the guy, Richard Peck's, numerous books, and a couple poems that I believe he wrote. One of these poems in particular stood out for me, the last thing he writes in the book:
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A story is a doorway that opens on a wider place.
A story is a mirror to reflect the reader's face.
A story is a question you hadn't thought to ponder.
A story is a pathway inviting you to wander.
A story is a window, a story is a key,
a story is a lighthouse, beaming out to sea.
A story's a beginning, a story is an end.
And in the story's middle, you might just make a friend. ^_^
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I don't know how much I would enjoy Richard Peck's novels, since he doesn't exactly write sci-fi or fantasy fiction, but his name could be something for me to remember.
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