The other day, I had the good fortune to hear about some new books from two representatives of Harry W. Schwartz Bookshop. If there’s one thing you know about me, it’s that I have an addiction to buying books. It is rare that I will enter a bookstore and leave empty-handed. For me, it is like walking into a kitchen and being faced with freshly baked brownies and cookies. I cannot resist!

 

Anyway, many good suggestions were made. One in particular made an impression and so I bought it. It’s a small book called Not Quite What I Was Planning. It is, simply, a collection of six-word memoirs. That’s right. I said SIX WORD MEMOIRS. You might be asking yourself, how can this be?

 

The answer is that it’s based on the legend that Ernest Hemingway was once challenged to write a story in six words. Here is what he wrote: “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.” Wow. Pretty powerful stuff, isn’t it? And that’s the premise. It is possible to say a lot with very little. In fact, it’s even fun.

 

The book is chock-full of these gems. Here are a few:

 

“Liars, hysterectomy didn’t improve sex life!” – Joan Rivers

“I still make coffee for two.” – Zak Nelson

“Fifteen years since last professional haircut.” – Dave Eggers

“Nobody cared, then they did. Why?” – Chuck Klosterman

 

There are more…many more. Those are just a few from the back cover alone. The book has six-word memoirs from famous and unknown authors alike. Some are silly. Some are sad or poignant. Some are brilliant.

 

So like the cookies, brownies and this book, I couldn’t resist. I had to try it myself. My life summed up in six words. Let me tell you that this exercise truly illustrates that less is more…work that is. It’s easy to be verbose and very difficult to be concise and descriptive all at the same time.

 

And although I don't come close to Hemingway, here is mine: “Saw some stuff. Tried acting otherwise.” That’s it. I won’t explain it because it’s all there.

 

How about you, dear readers? Will you share your six-word memoir with me? Go ahead, right here in the comments. I promise it’s fun!

 

Oh and if you’re totally addicted, you can join Schwartz on Downer’s Six-Word Slam on April 25^th. "Six words about you. Great fun!" (See! I did it again!) 

 

Wow, things are heating up here in Tosa and I’m not talking about the weather. Check out the Tosa Town Square and you see that opinions are divided on topics like the upcoming mayoral race, the Hoyt Park Pool and the Tosa schools’ new early release policy.

And so, I thought I’d dive into a safer topic – one that has summer written all over it (pardon the pun) but won’t have people shaking their fists in indignation. Let’s talk books. No, wait. Seriously! I’ve been reading a lot this summer and really enjoying it. For whatever reason, perhaps because I am a book club enthusiast, I’m sometimes asked what I’m reading. (Prepare to be wholly unimpressed.) So, here goes!

One of my absolute favorite books yet this summer is Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen about a young man who inadvertently runs away with the circus. Love her writing style, her characters and her stories. She’s an easy read without feeling like you have to hide the cover in embarrassment. And you shouldn’t, because summer is for fun reading – a time to rest your brain and feed it a little bit of mind candy, don’t you agree? I enjoyed this book so much (did I mention that I hate spoilers and never give away plot details?) that I picked up one of her other titles, Flying Changes. Another fantastic read about a mother and daughter and their passion for horses.

A friend gifted me with a beautiful book called Sister of My Heart by Chitra Divakaruni. It’s simply a wonderful story of friendship between two girls in India, spanning a generation and a bit of the globe. I found it heartwarming and a great read.

A title that I actually finished well before summer but I think is a good “beach read” is Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult. If you’ve ever read one of her books, she has a unique way of weaving a bit of a mystery with realistic characters with whom you can identify. If you were stunned by the events at Columbine and Virginia Tech (and who wasn’t?), you’ll find this book to be a very different perspective on this devastating and difficult topic. It’s a very fast read that will make you think and want to hug your teens and hold them close.

If you subscribe to Sports Illustrated (one of my favorite magazines), you’ve likely been entertained for years by Rick Reilly’s column, The Life of Reilly on the last page of the magazine. He’s a fantastic writer that somehow manages to take turns being hilarious one week and thought-provoking the next. Hate Mail From Cheerleaders is a compilation of some of his best or most controversial columns from the past several years. It’s a fun read for a sports fan or someone that appreciates good contemporary, topical writing. One of the very best columns in the book is the last one about Patrick Henry Hughes and his dad Patrick John Hughes who are the only two-person marching-band member in college football. If you don’t get misty-eyed reading it, I’d be very, very surprised.

For something completely fluffy in the chick-lit department, Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin is a romp through the lives of two young career women in Manhattan told by the more serious of the two friends. The sequel, Something Blue, tells the follow-up story from the perspective of the other friend. They’re easily readable and forgettable, but sometimes that’s fun on a hot summer day.

So that’s it. I’d love to hear about anything fun that you’re reading…emphasis on the word “fun.” We’ll get more serious once school is back in session. Happy reading!

The other day, one of my monthly book clubs met to discuss our most recent selection: “Population 485. Meeting Your Neighbors One Siren at a Time” by Michael Perry. The book is a non-fiction account of a real-life prodigal son, the author, who returns to his hometown -- New Auburn, Wisconsin, population: 485 -- and joins the volunteer fire and rescue department. Our discussion initially covered the great writing, stories and characters found in Perry’s book. We eventually moved on to our thoughts about Wauwatosa and how it compared to New Auburn.

The most intriguing question asked was whether each of us considered Wauwatosa a suburb of a big city or a small town. As someone who grew up on the north side of Chicago, Wauwatosa feels wonderfully small-townish to me. I love the fact that I meet my neighbors in grocery store aisles and at church festivals. I love that we have a weekly local paper (The former News Times, soon to be the WauwatosaNOW.) I love that the police officers are familiar to me and not because I’ve had run-ins with the law, but because they’re constant guardians in our community. I love that we have a charming 4th of July Parade every year where we holler greetings to people marching by as they pelt us with candy. I love that I can walk to the Village and visit Drew’s Variety Store where they truly have a little something of almost everything.

Sure, Tosa is very “big town” in many ways with our cool new restaurants and shops, our cosmopolitan shopping mall and our proximity to a major metropolitan city. Our firefighters are not volunteers but you can watch our local government on local access TV.

To me, Wauwatosa is the right combination of mostly “little” with just the right amount of “big” mixed in. How about you? Do you consider Tosa a small town or a big suburb? E-mail your thoughts to westsidestoriestosa@yahoo.com .