The book that healed my sports-heart AND my writing

In light of my sports-heart being broken during an incredible World Series, I wanted to lose myself in a book. But the book I was reading that week, while good, wasn't sucking me in. It wasn't enveloping me like I needed a book to at that moment.

So I decided to reread one of my favorite books that I'd only read once before, probably six or seven years ago. It was exactly what I needed and every bit as awesome as I remembered.

from Amazon.com

The funny thing is, it's not the sort of book I normally liked when I first read it in high school. And the further into it I got, the more the writing style reminded me of my own. Six years ago, though, I was writing poems, maybe some short stories. And it intrigues me now, as I try to figure out if I loved it then because of a style that was already some inherent part of me, or if it influenced my writing style, just in one reading.

I'm revising a manuscript right now, and it was actually very helpful to read this book while I revised. One's in first person past, one in first person present. The subject matters are entirely different. But it has this heartbreaking lyrical flow and does all the little parts of writing so well. It reminded me how a book feels when there aren't any extraneous, useless words, which the manuscript I'm revising is full of.

Oh, and this book I love so much? It's A Year and a Day, by Leslie Pietrzyk. I highly recommend it! And if you've read it, please let me know if you enjoyed it as much as I did.