Gems are right there in the little books

            As a long-time reader, I've always appreciated the power of books and how they can alter the course of our lives. As a youngster, I read every Nancy Drew mystery on the library shelf and was inspired to keep my wits about me at all times.

            In high school, I stayed up all night finishing "The Godfather," and the Corleone family idioms are part of my vocabulary. "It's time to go to the mattresses" remains one of my favorite phrases.  

            I'm also a fan of novels that take the reader through generations, including Taylor Caldwell's generation-spanning "Captains and the Kings" and Alex Haley's riveting "Roots."

            Although these gargantuan novels are cautionary tales about what not to do, I've come to realize it doesn't take a book the size of an anvil to affect the way I look at life.

            Short, little books are a goldmine. I'm not talking about the greeting card books filled with clichés and flowery statements. I'm talking about slender books that dispense sensible advice and words for living.

            William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White's "The Elements of Style" is only 85 pages, but it's a must for anyone writing or editing. My copy has bookmarks and pages marked with Post-It-Notes and sits right by my computer.

            Two of my favorite little books are gems I'll pick up whenever I have a few minutes. One is a surprisingly short book from the master, Stephen King, that has nothing to do with vampires or gunslingers.

            This book is about how to approach writing. Pay attention to how real people behave and then tell the truth about what you observe, King states, and the scariest moment in writing is just before you start.

            Reading those words, I thought they applied not only to writing but also to life. All of us are scared when we start on something new, but the best way to get through that, as King states, is to simply and quietly get started.

            That thought brings me to the best short book I've ever read, "The Last Lecture" by the late Randy Pausch. More than 5 million copies are in print, and one read through will convince anyone Pausch's words are a solid-gold blueprint for life.

            Pausch was a professor at Carnegie Mellon whose classes were always full. It's an academic tradition at the university that a professor gave a last lecture before classes dismiss for the year.

            When Pausch was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, the school didn't want to ask the popular professor to give the last lecture.

            But Pausch volunteered, and the video on YouTube has been viewed over 16 million times. His follow-up book is a longer explanation of the video, and each chapter reflects a man who sees joy and opportunity around every corner.

            Pausch, in fact, claims that people can classify themselves into two categories from the Winnie the Pooh books – we're either happy and optimistic Tiggers or gloomy pessimistic Eeyores.

            Pausch doesn't write about dying in his book – he talks about how to live life. Live your life the right way, Pausch writes, and your dreams will come to you. Manage your time like money because all of us have a finite amount of both.

            I have a green crayon taped to my desk because Pausch says we shouldn't forget to indulge the creative child inside ourselves. Every time I look at that crayon, I think about Randy Pausch and his little book about life.

            And the Tigger inside me giggles for joy.

 This column was originally published in The Fort Bend Herald.