A Year in Books/Day 217: The New York Public Library Desk Reference

Title: The New York Public Library Desk Reference Fourth Edition
Year Published: This Edition-2002 (A Stonesong Press Book)
Year Purchased: 2005
Source: Writers Digest Book Club
About: This is my go-to reference book. It is the perfect companion for when you don’t feel like searching the internet, with the added bonus of being undeniably factual. None of the entries were written by drunken or vindictive idiots trying to mess with us (as far as we know). At nearly a thousand pages, it does the word comprehensive justice. As with all good research materials, it’s fun to read, too. Really. I also love flipping through it for no reason, and randomly landing on facts or figures that have nothing to do with my life, writing career, interests or hobbies. Just like when I was let loose with an almanac as a 3-year-old. What bliss!
Motivation: My lifelong obsession with reference books had nothing to do with it, nothing at all.
Times Read: Used as reference resource only.
Random Excerpt/Page 331: “myth of Er A parable at the end of Plato’s Republic about the fate of souls after bodily death; according to Plato, the soul must choose wisdom in the afterlife to guarantee a good life in its next cycle of incarnation.”
Happiness Scale: 10+

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