A Simple Machine, Like the Lever

At the top of my Christmas to-do list was to get in some good quality reading time, namely, a newly released novel - A Simple Machine, Like the Lever by Evan P. Schneider, Judith's fiance. Sitting in the Seattle airport waiting for my flight to Nebraska, I pulled out the book and cracked open the cover. The pages were crisp and it had that delicious new-book smell.

I liked it before I even began because there wasn't a long and wordy forward or a belabouring introduction. The book simply started, no messing around. Oh, and the chapters were refreshingly short, sometimes only 2 pages long. I don't like stopping in the middle of a chapter, so if it's 30 pages long, I get bogged down, and chances of finishing the chapter, not to mention the book), are slim.

As I read, I was quickly drawn into the story and the pages flew rapidly by. By the time I arrived at my brother's house in Nebraska, I only had a few pages left, which I quickly devoured before I even thought about falling asleep.

My personalized copy! :D

I thoroughly enjoyed every word of it! Below are a few of my favourite quotes, none of which will ruin the book for you if you ever get the chance to read it.....

~ On certain nights like tonight, the molecules hang out more casually, loosening their bonds with one another, not taking their job of being the air too seriously. (pg.57)

~ When you ride [your bike] at night under large street lamps, something happens with your shadow. Because you're moving and passing directly beneath the streetlights in series, your shadow sneaks up behind you and then emerges out from under your tires. (pg.71-72)

~ Life = Time = Work = Money = Things and Stuff (pg.94)

~ Fatness is just little bags of energy that have been saved up and not spent. (pg.43)

~ Taking a picture of them [trees changing colours in the fall] would be a mistake, because then they would just look like trees next to the street instead of what they really are to me. (pg.121)

~ If you go fast enough over something that is composed of slats, the slats sort of disappear. It's a complicated optical experience involving perspective and speed and geometry. (pg. 128)

~ I should write this in my planner: 'Sunrise every day', and then make certain that I see the entire atmosphere tinting fuller and lighter, from total darkness until the sun is up completely. Then the sunrise will not have passed unnoticed. (pg.118)

~ Doing things right away is always the hardest way to do them. But if you don't, it catches up with you. (pg. 114)

~ Price is only a reflection of one's willingness to own something. (pg.32)

~ Not having much money makes it easy to see when it's being wasted. (pg.37)

~ And after you fix it yourself and take that bicycle for a spin around the block and then slowly start to ride it back and forth to work with a little regularity, it's something amazing that the world can't ever take away from you, because you did it with your own bare hands and your own true effort, making your own movement possible day after day after day. (pg.107)

~ Ride Your Bike to Work Week sounds like a healthy, community-building concept. But unleashing into bike lanes and busy traffic hundreds of people who have not ridden a bicycle since early childhood isn't a very good idea, if you ask me. (pg.112)

I like how he feels every little bit of life. He may not have his act together, but he is living life and enjoying each moment. If you get a chance, pick up a copy and indulge yourself!