Double-Stacked Bookshelves

A ndy scuffed his foot over the hard packed, dusty dirt road, staring at the cracks in the surface, and hitched his pack into a more comfortable position.  His shoulders had been rubbed raw long ago and thick callouses had formed where the straps of his pack had chafed for the past three months.  He'd started out walking for no other reason than to walk, but his pilgrimage seemed to morph into something more.  Something deeper.  He felt grimy.  Dust was etched into the creases and folds of his clothing.  He hadn't seen a proper shower in weeks; instead, rivers, lakes, and streams had become Andy's bathing vessels.  Never able to fully cleanse himself, Andy had taken to side roads and copses to avoid the looks often caste his way when he encountered anyone.  These detours often left him without human interaction for long stretches of time.  The road leading to the small, faded church stretched out in front of him,...

Happy day after taxes, people!  We are plowing into the second half of the A-Z Blogging Challenge and I am no longer completely caught up on posts (and scheduled ahead).  Thank you work for taking time away from my blogging!  Regardless, I'm plugging along.  Today is all about the letter N. N is for "Name" and "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia" "Name" - Goo Goo Dolls   This was the first hit for the Goo Goo Dolls, though they had two previous released from their debut album, A Boy Named Goo .  I loved this song when it came out.  Still do, actually.  It's a great little track that works in all the right ways.  It's also the song that propelled the previously considered alternative band into the mainstream pop atmosphere. *Fun Fact :  The Goo Goo Dolls are the only musicians to have three songs on Billboard's "Top 100 Pop Songs 1992-2012" chart.  These songs are also all in the top 25.  In addition, the...

Today's teaser comes from one of my many Dollar Tree finds:  Lisa Tucker's The Promised World .  I'm nearly 150 pages into it and it's been  good so far.  Verdict's still out on overall opinion.  Regardless, here's a teaser: "She paused.  'I suppose I sound too excited.  I'm a great believer in stories.  I used to tell Billy I was afraid we loved stories more than real life, but he said, 'What is life but a story we don't know the meaning of yet?'"" (10). This excerpt is pretty spot on with my approach to stories and books; they are like real life (kind of...sort of).  I mean, who doesn't want to be a student at Hogwart's or roam the halls of Tara or befriend Boo Radley?  Happy Tuesday!