1. I'm moving things around here a little bit. The Box Office Rec is too limiting, so I'm putting the same condition as the Contemporary Rec - last five years.

2. I strongly encourage you to join up with the website PaperBackSwap. Basically, you list 10 books in your collection you no longer want. This gives you two credits. Each credit is good for a free book listed by anyone else on the site. If someone wants one of your books, you pay for shipping (USPS media mail or first class) and earn another credit.

At this point, I'm getting all of my textbooks for the upcoming semester for cheap. Either view it as free books or $2.50/book, that's cheap. There are quality conditions in place to ensure the books sent out are in good condition. If they're not, the person doesn't receive a credit.

SwapaDVD is the sister site for DVDs. There's a CD one as well, though I question the legality of that system with the ease of copying CDs on most computers.

3. Thank you for your kind words and thoughts over the past week. My family appreciated it very much. Onto the meat of the matter.

DEAR Rec: Daisy Miller by Henry James

Some would argue that Daisy Miller is Henry James' most well known and renowned work. If not that, then certainly The Portrait of a Lady or The Turn of the Screw (though that might be better known because of film adaptations).

Whatever the reason, the acclaim is justified. I'll keep it short and simple today. Is it a comedy of manners? A sharp take on social status? A reflection of still standing prejudices amongst Americans and Europeans? Yes. Yes it is.

In just under 70 pages, James covers a significant amount of ground with great style and wit by focusing on impressions, not facts, of all that's mentioned in the book. You can spare the hour or so it takes to read this. It's always worth a read. Outside of some reference books I'm always clawing away at, Daisy Miller is perhaps the most read book in my collection. I don't think you could ever go wrong with it.