I just finished reading Shoeless Joe by W. P. Kinsella, the book upon which the movie "Field of Dreams" was based. Excellent book, and I don't think having seen the movie (a hundred times) before ruined it like that sort of thing usually does. There are a precious few movies that make me blub my eyes out as much the 127th time as they do the first, and "Field of Dreams" is one. Having now read the book, I think the movie does the book justice.

Baseball is one of my loves, and particularly players like Shoeless Joe Jackson fascinate me. I haven't done much baseball reading lately, but as a child I carried around The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract and read it cover to cover. I have lived and died with the Cubs every year for 21 years now, and while they have never rewarded me (nor my parents, nor my grandparents) with a World Series win, they are as much a part of me as the gray hairs (!) on my head.