The tricks the mind plays. . .

A week ago I posted about my current reading of 2 David Baldacci novels, Split Second and Hour Game. I mentioned that they were sequential and that the protagonists were Sean King and Michelle Maxwell. Well, I finished Split Second over the weekend and went on to the sequel. And as I read the first chapter, I thought it sounded familiar. By the end of the Chapter 2 I knew that I had read this book already. I checked my book shelves and their down in the right hand corner of the bottom shelf was Hour Game.

Indeed, I had read it when it was first published in paperback 2 years ago. Now why did my mind not remember that? Was the book so unmemorable? Clearly, the teaser blurb inside the cover did not alert me. I simply had forgotten about it. And this is not the first time this has happened. A few months ago I thought that I had found an older Faye Kellerman novel, featuring Detective Peter Decker and his wife Rina Lazarus, which I was sure I had not read previously. The same thing happened; as I started reading, something sounded familiar and fairly soon I remembered all the details of the storyline. Oh, woe is me! The tricks the mind plays on us. Perhaps it is just a function of age or the number of mysteries that I read or . . . whatever.

Well, I've started a new book now and I know I haven't read it before because it is non-fiction which is rarely a reading choice of mine in recent years. I endured plenty of non-fiction over a 40+ year academic career.

I remembered an article about Malcolm Gladwell in the January, 2005 issue of Fast Company magazine.

It is the only business oriented periodical I read and I found Danielle Sacks' The Accidental Guru fascinating. Finally, a few months ago, I purchased his book The Tipping Point and just started it this afternoon and, it is very interesting and readable so far.

I haven't read enough of the book to reach any conclusions yet. When I do, I may share my thoughts . . . if my mind remembers them.