Debra Pickett

I go back and forth on whether I'm a fan of the whole "One Book, One Chicago" idea. On the one hand, there's the whole creepy intellectual conformity aspect of it -- the Oprahfication of yet one more aspect of life. But, then again, they do pick really good books.

I'm ashamed to admit that I'd never actually read the current selection, Alexander Solzhenitsyn's "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich." I just finished it last night, curled up under a fleece blanket, while R. is out at the Cubs game, enjoying the 40-degree weather like a real Chicagoan.

I'll spare you the "Smart Girls' Book Club" review of it ("full of sassy attitude, but a little slow for a beach read") and just say that it really is an incredibly powerful piece of work.

Still, if I fall in love with the "One Book, One Chicago" thing, is that just one step further down the slippery slope of Daley loyalty that will soon have me looking at the 20-zillion planted-too-soon tulips and not wondering what they cost? Or, worse, will I soon begin to think those "high crime area" police cameras are a good idea?