At the library yesterday, I just so happened upon "The Dictionary of Concise Writing."

It is not as you'd suspect, though. "The Dictionary of Concise Writing" is 412 pages long.

Inspired by the deeply spiritual movie "Into the Wild," which was based on a book by Jon Krakauer, I have a good mind to delve into some other books by the avid outdoorsman.

Today, I picked up an audio copy of "Eiger Dreams." It's a book of short stories about mountain -- and boulder -- climbers and their search for the next, more risky climb. My personal suggestions are "Into Thin Air," "Into the Wild," but so
far I've also liked "Eiger Dreams" and I'm definitely interested in
reading "Under the Banner of Heaven."

I don’t always make time to read, but I do always make time to buy books. That’s why I have a shelf full of books that I’ve bought and not yet read, and why the number of those books keeps growing.

It’s like shopping while you’re hungry – it’s never a good idea, and you always end up with more than you really need. The problem is, I’m always hungry for books.

With all the year-end attention focused on the “best of” 2007 (including the Jordan Independent’s own chronology of last year), I got to thinking about how many things I like best from the last year that never get mentioned. So here are a few of the best things about 2007 in my opinion:

Recently, I reread the book on tape "Around the World in 80 Days."

I’ve seen the latest movie, but the books are always better.

For my birthday, my parents bought me a 20-volume set of the works of Charles Dickens originally published in 1936.

I’m planning on giving up TV for a week, starting at about 10 p.m. Wednesday night (or whenever I finish watching this week’s episode of "Lost").

I just read a feature article about the new "Harry Potter" movie. It comes out only two weeks before the new (and final) "Harry Potter" book.

"Why the Owl Has Big Ears" by Mike Preble was the fifth bestselling children's/young adult book at Barnes & Noble in Eden Prairie last week. Which book placed first?