That's Life: Again, don't judge a book by its cover

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Dear That’s Life,
It’s a long story... But it’s a good one.
Don’t judge a book by its cover. How many times have I said that? More times than I care to remember. But as I often do in this column, I have a confession to make: I literally judged a book by its cover and it was a huge mistake.
Weeks ago, a friend of mine finished reading People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks while she was at my home for Shabbat. Raving about it, she offered it to me but I passed — the cover looked dry and from the title I assumed it was yet another book on the plight of the Jewish people and I was not in the mood. However, you know what happens when you assume...
Whenever I finish reading a book, I initial and date the inside cover. It is almost my way of demonstrating a kind of ownership of the text, as it reminds me of where I was and what point of life I was at when I read the book. But this ritual only happens when I’ve finished reading it cover to cover — only then do I really feel like a book is mine or that it is a part of me.
I started a book last week which, within the first page, required me to look up at least four words, leading me to simply place the dictionary on my stomach, keeping it close by for easy access. When would I have ever come across the word mahout before? Or myna? Or caravansary? My point exactly. When I realized carrying a complete (unabridged) dictionary with me was impractical, I knew I needed a book I could take with me in my bag that was a little less labor intensive, i.e. no reference material necessary. The next day, when I went to Barnes and Noble, I picked up a number of different titles and for some reason (and I cannot tell you why) seeing it out of the corner of my eye, I added People of the Book to the top of my heap.
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