Monday, September 29, 2008

Book Review: "A" is For Atticus


You know me, don't you?

You know about lots of things in my life, because in my narcissism, I love talking about myself sharing things with you. Not only do you know of my love for my family, you also know that I love some really crappy television shows, and politics. You know that I own several kilts, and that I have a few tattoos. You know what I do for a living, that I teach Sunday School and coach youth soccer.

You also know that I love to read.

I recently had the good fortune to review a new book from the Hachette Group called "A" is for Atticus, by Lorilee Craker.

I have had the pleasure of reviewing lots of books, but this is a new thing for me, because it is the first time because I have ever reviewed a baby name book. Truthfully, I had no real expectations from the book, because I figured that it would be another collection of names with some sort of focus. I was about to be surprised.

As you know, there are a huge number of baby name books out there, and many of them have a particular focus, giving parents an incredible wealth of potential names for their soon-to-be-born children. As you can imagine, all of these books start to look alike in a very short amount of time.

Those of you who have become parents since the dawn of the Internet, also know that there are innumerable resources for baby names online... and that there are computer models that track the popularity of names and identify trends in baby names.

This book is a different because it is all about names from great books. Think about that... how many times have you read a book and thought to yourself "THAT would be a great name for a child"? I have done that more than once, and if we, by some miracle of heaven, ever have a boy child, his name will be Hamish... the Scottish form of James (Bond... James Bond).

Thumbing through this book of names made me smile, alot. Seeing the names of so many familiar characters can't help but remind you of the joy of a lifetime of reading. If you are the reading sort and are planning to have children, you should give this book a try. If you are someone that reads, and you would like to have something of a reminder of your old "friends" from literature, this book is a must.

GF

PS: Can you get better than Atticus Finch?