So I judge a book by its cover.

I was in Barnes and Noble and I overheard a mother say to her teenage daughter, "See, you like books."  To which the daughter replied, "Yeah, when they have a good cover."  To which I added a derisive snort.  Very judgey.  And then I looked at several editions of To Kill a Mockingbird and picked the one with the prettiest cover.  Okay, so I have standards.  I'm sorry Teenage Daughter.  I see your point.

Some of you may remember that I currently have a book buying moratorium on.  Well, I had to briefly lift it tonight.  It was an emergency.  Yesterday morning I caught literally the last minute of  "To Kill a Mockingbird" and was a wreck.  A WRECK!  Just seeing Scout walk Boo back to his house and then walk back to her house and crawl into Atticus' lap was enough to do me in.  And then that same morning I read an article about the 50th anniversary of the book's publication and all the parties that were being thrown for it (I don't want to be a band wagon jumper, but doesn't a party sound like fun?  We can all drink lemonade and shoot marshmallow guns at pictures of rabid dogs!  I'm going to dress like a ham.)  I took both of these as a sign that I needed to read the book again.  Except that I can't find my copy of the book.  It's not in this apartment - I looked - and if there's one thing I keep organized it's my books.  And I don't remember lending it out to anyone.  It's just gone.  See?  Emergency!  So I lifted the moratorium.  I feel good about my decision.  I think it's a moral obligation to own that book.  Plus, I have a sort of job with Kramerica Industries so it's justified, right?  Right?!

If I do throw a party it will be in the summer, because To Kill a Mockingbird is definitely a summer book.  I mean, it feels like summer, doesn't it?  But until then I'm throwing out a challenge for you to read it.  Yeah, that's right, a challenge!  Even if you've read it a million times, read it again.  And then come on over and we'll watch the movie and have a good cry.