Today, I got one of, well, a lot of emails that I get from Amazon.com because they have my name and email address and probably half of our expendable income from the last five years thanks to my book-buying habit. Usually, I ignore the emails. But today I saw one letter at the end of the subject line and thought .... "I might need to read this." And now for what will seem like a digression:

A while back, I read and proceeded to force many of my family and friends to read a book called "Peace Like a River" the first novel of a guy named Leif Enger. I love this book. Love. It. I love it so much that after a reasonable period of time had passed, I started pining for a new title from Enger. And that's how I got into a habit that probably looks a lot like an obsessive compulsive behavior to the Barnes and Noble people in Albuquerque, which is that every single time I go in there, I go directly to the shelf where "Peace Like a River" is stocked, and check to see if there is a new Enger book next to it. But there never is. So then I spend a couple of minutes considering whether or not there is anyone else I need to buy "Peace like a River" for and about half the time I pick up a new copy just in case.

So back to my email story. Today, as I skimmed my email subject lines, I saw the usual Amazon email. The part of the subject line I could read before gmail cut it off said "Save 40% at Amazon.com on "So Brave, Young and Handsome," by L".... end of subject line. First, I started reading the next subject line, and then I thought, "You know whose name starts with L? Leif Enger, that's who." And I opened the email, which told me that the day I have been waiting for is almost here, and Enger's new book comes out on April 22! So if you're looking for me that day, I'll be in the "E" aisle of the literature section in Barnes and Noble, weeping tears of joy.

In the meantime, if any of you have failed to read "Peace Like a River," please go pick up a copy. Or call me and I'll give you one of the two or three I have lying around the house waiting for owners.