Poll: 1 in 4 read no books last year - U.S. Life - MSNBC.com

I guess I must read enough to make up for those non-readers! If I don't average 30-40 books a month, I've been very, very ill!!! My reading is voracious, and to some, mind-boggling. I read fiction of various types, as well as nonfiction. I do not, however, read romance novels. Most of those aren't worth the paper they're printed on in my opinion. I read poetry, too.

I've been in love with books ever since my mother read me my first Little Golden Book, I taught myself to read by the time I was 4, and there's been no stopping me in the 56 years to follow. My one problem with reading as a child was people who tried to limit my reading to age level material. This frustrated me to no end, since I'd read those books a good 2-3 years earlier. When I went to kindergarten, my reading ability tested out at 3rd grade level. By 3rd grade, I was reading at high school levels.

The man in this article who said he only read nonfiction and that if he wanted a story, he'd get a movie probably lacks imagination. When I read fiction, I climb into that world, and virtually leave the rest of the world behind. In other words, if you want my attention while I'm inside, you'd better touch me in some way to break the spell of the story. Otherwise I won't hear you at all! I drive people nuts that way, because although the body is present, the mind is not.

Agent: O.J.'s book on killings to be published - BOOKS - MSNBC.com

This is outrageous! I hope nobody buys this book. I know I won't!

New York fixture Brooke Astor dies - U.S. Life - MSNBC.com

RIP Brooke Astor, a classy lady who had control of a fortune and knew what to do with it! New York will miss her terribly.

Karl Rove to quit this month - Politics - MSNBC.com

Hallelujah! Will wonders never cease!

Merv Griffin dies at 82 - Celebrity News - MSNBC.com

RIP Merv Griffin! A man of many talents, he created my favorite quiz show of all time: Jeopardy.

My Turn: Let's Think Outside The Box of Bad Clich�s - Newsweek My Turn - MSNBC.com

"But I have a sneaking suspicion that, from time immemorial, that has been an errand of mercy and easier said than done." (emphasis mine)

Sorry, sir, but I believe you mean "an exercise in futility."

As one trained to be an English teacher, I have come to the opinion that sometimes cliches are a necessary evil, because then those in one's generation know what one means, and one does not have to go into reams of expressive explanation or awkward sentence structure. I always stressed, hoever, that essays should not be peppered with cliches, as though one stood back and fired a shotgun full of .00 cliches at the paper.

Over the centuries, constructions which were cliches in their own time have passed through the filter of language to become first an integral part of the language and then to a designation of being archaic.

This article made me smile throughout, though I don't accept the argument about all the phrases identified as cliches, and I laughed heartilly at the last paragraph, even if I did find a misuse of cliche in it.