The best book I've read in a really long time

Sometimes when you least expect it, fate steps in and hands you a gift. I had that experience yesterday when, during a shopping trip at Urban Outfitters, I picked up Pretty Little Mistakes, simply to give myself something to read while I ate lunch.

The premise of the book was intriguing, especially for those of us of a certain age demographic who grew up devouring "Choose Your Own Adventure" books. The basic idea was that genre... for grownups.

It's a clever trick, and the book is quite entertaining on that level. But the real magic of Heather McElhatton's writing is that you forget that you're reading a "clever" book. Each time your story "ends" the protagonist (of course) dies, and almost every one of the final threads ends with heart-wrenching poignancy. I found myself dog-earring page after page to remind myself of phrases that were razor sharp reminders of how tragic, comic, happy, sad... emotional... life is.

The best way I can describe the book is that it is like watching the finale of "Six Feet Under" as Claire drives away... only over and over, imagining what is, was, and might have been. It's a beautiful book, and one that you'll likely never "finish" (the joy and ache of CYOA) but return to again and again, threading through an imagined life that somehow becomes everyone.

(And for anyone who needs just a touch of heartache to start out their day, here's the finale of "Six Feet Under" including the haunting "Breathe Me" by Sia... don't say I didn't warn you.)