Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life - Amy Krouse Rosenthal

I read this book on my Kindle, so there's no photo.  Sorry.  Belle, over at Bell, Book, and Candle, reviewed this one on her web site, and her review made me want to read it.  Like her, I had many 'I do that, too!' moments.

Ms. Rosenthal, as the book title suggests, writes about everyday things.  She organizes her essays, some as short as a word or two, in alphabetical order, like a dictionary or an encyclopedia.  I started liking her with her Acknowledgments:  I would like to thank you for reading this book.  You're welcome, Amy.

Interspersed among the encyclopedia-like entries are tables and lists and a few illustrations.  It's all entertaining.  Near the beginning, there's a run down of her life up to 2004, when the book was published.  Parts of that I found a bit dull, especially some of the childhood incidents.

But then I found we shared many things.  I, too, look at train schedules a million times to make sure I have the right train and the right time (and the right station).  She writes about broken things.  My obsession is that all of my appliances will betray me, usually at some crucial time, like when we're getting ready to go away or when someone's in the hospital.  If they leaked once, they will again, so I check the washer every single time I use it.  Once, there were baby mice in the dryer at our last house, so even though I've never seen a mouse in this house, I check before using the dryer.  Every time.

It was funny to read that her brother, who grew up with three sisters, was fairly old before he realized that he didn't have to wrap the towel around his chest when he got out of the shower!  Poor guy!  Reading words wrong?  Yeah, I do that, too.  A celebrity whose cheeks bounced or whose checks bounced?

Then there's a long part about 'important' events in Amy's life.  Again, not so interesting to me.  It's not that I don't care about the lives of other people, but these seemed very, very ordinary to me.  Oh, and she writes these in the third person, which I found annoying.

'Completion', however, hit the mark.  That's me.  'When I'm out, I'm usually thinking about going home.  When I'm home, I'm usually thinking about the next time I'm going out.'  'I have not experienced the full pleasure of an act or task until I've crossed it off my list.'  It's the feeling of unease until I've done something that I want to or need to do.  And you know there's no end to that.  I've never gotten the hang of living in the moment.  It's supposed to be so peaceful and relaxing.  Sigh.

Under 'Compliments', she says that the nurse taking blood at her physical told her she had great veins.  A weird compliment for which she thanked the nurse.  A radiologist once told me I had a beautiful gall bladder and called in another nurse to look.  I guess beauty is truly on the inside, at least for some of us.

Like Amy, I sort of jog across the street when a car motions me to cross.  I'm grateful and don't want to delay the driver.  Old photos make me feel I'm in a time machine, looking at my young parents and grandparents, who, of course, I never knew as young people with young lives.

I bet we can all share her feelings about rainy days:  they come as a relief, a pass to stay inside, to retreat.  'It's cozy and safe hanging out on this side of gray.'  When the sun comes out you feel a little disappointed because then life goes on as usual and you have to do things.  We readers understand that very well.

So, aside from the boring parts, I enjoyed this light and quirky book.  Thanks again, Belle!