1/161: Screwball by David Ferrell

Accomplishment!!!  My first 161 Project book and it was a DELIGHT.  So glad I forced myself to finally read it.  David Ferrell, you've got a fan in me.

The story centers around a fictional Boston Red Sox team as they chase the ultimate MLB goal: the World Series trophy.  The Curse of the Bambino seems to be wreaking havoc, tho, and in full force as a masterful killer leaves headless corpses in the wake of the team's schedule.  An appropriate title, Screwball - an oh so appropriate title!  It is baseball after all...  so, a "screwball" of a throw across the plate, to the actual "screwball" serial killer, to the unbelievable "screwball" antics of the team's management trying to cover-up the horrific crimes, this is a "screwball" comedy of errors (yuk, yuk, yuk) pitched (sorry, couldn't resist) more than one laugh out loud moment, despite the grisly circumstances.

So, I found it entertaining.  I found it fascinating.  I have a high appreciation of the author...  specifically, what I've griped about (a-lot) in other books, I am in awe of in this one:  Ferrell doesn't tell you everything.

Hmmm...  you know why?  Because he doesn't need to!  Ferrell writes perfectly.  Perfectly!  So well that you learn what you need to know as the story unfolds.  Clues aren't blantantly displayed.  They're mentioned in passing.  And in the end, it's not all wrapped up in a neat little bow.  There are loose ends, but they're loose ends you can live with.  And despite the grisly murder spree, this isn't a story of police in hot pursuit of a serial killer...  It's a story about baseball.  Real baseball.  The baseball you don't see being played on the field, but the behind-the-scenes-this-is-what-it-takes-to-make-this-season-happen baseball. 

And I loved it!   

And like all stories I love, I find the nuggets of wisdom nestled in and I savor them on the pages and again here...  tidbits from the author that I take away with me...   

"It was the hardest lesson of all, to learn what you are not."

"...for of all the sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these: 'It might have been.'" (uncredited)

"Sometimes the answer does not lie in explaning away fear; sometimes it lies in courage."
         ~Robert Oppenheimer~

February 2011 BookPage

First glance thru this month's BookPage left me little to be excited about - but then, I was feeling rushed & stressed & in desperate need of a relaxing diversion.  Unfortunately, due to the rushed & stressed, I couldn't seem to get my mind diverted.

Fast forward to today: the first day in weeks I feel like I can truly relax, altho there is quite a bit still on my to-do-list.  The difference is I don't have looming & demanding deadlines tonight.  However, tomorrow is, indeed, another day.

So while I patiently waited for a video from last night's annual dinner (one of my distracting deadlines) to upload (it never did), I grabbed my BookPage from the in-box...  and promptly fell in love!

Many, many titles in this issue that have peaked my interest!  By the way, I'm fully aware these may be duplicates from other BookPages & To Read Lists.  ~sigh~

Caleb's Crossing by Geraldine Brooks
Under the Mercy Trees by Heather Newton
Wench by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
How I Planned Your Wedding by Susan Wiggs & Elizabeth Wiggs Maas
Gone by Mo Hayder
These Things Hidden by Heather Gudenkauf
Angel Sister by Ann H. Gabhart
Delirious by Daniel Palmer
The Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness
The Lying Game by Sara Shepard
The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
The Last Time They Met by Anita Shreve
Bloodroot by Amy Greene
Swamplandia! by Karen Russell
Prayers & Lies by Sherri Wood Emmons
The Red Garden by Alice Hoffman
The Fates Will Find Their Way by Hannah Pittard
Pictures of You by Caroline Leavitt
The Diviner's Tale by Bradford Morrow
J.D. Salinger: A Life by Kenneth Slawenski
Trapped by Michael Northrop

~sigh~  So many books, so little time...

omgosh, I did it...

I did it.  I did it.  It wasn't easy, but I did it.  I made myself a book-guts-fodder-vessel.

It started with the perfect vessel I found, at a perfect price... which I went ahead & bought, even tho I decided I was NOT going to do this, this "book fodder in a vessel decor thing."  But, my practical self said, if you buy it now - this perfect vessel - you'll have it when you do come across some tattered & torn & ready for the recycling bin books.  So I bought it.  And it looked quite nice on the library table, although a tad bit plain...

But it wasn't enough.  It only lasted a week.  And it was beckoning me.  And taunting me relentlessly everytime I wandered past.  And so, I began the painful & heartwrenching process...

I selected the perfectly fine books I was to maliciously destroy and ripped their covers off.  And gathered my materials.

Then I pulled them apart (this was NOT easy & required much strength!  WTH?).

I created quite a mess.

But... but, what a beauty, don't you think?   

~sigh~

and now, a quote...

Choose an author as you choose a friend.
~Sir Christopher Wren~