The Uncommon Thread by R. Scott Anderson

I find this amusing and ironic, because in the last chapter, Anderson includes some advice that an editor friend gave him, and #6 is “The spell checker will not tell you if you use the wrong word.” However, #7 is, “Leave the reader wanting more,” and Dr. I really only mention it because one of the errors was that in two different places, “effected” was used instead of “affected”. There are a few minor grammar and editing errors, but nothing more than in any other book and nothing that kept me from enjoying the stories. None of us has been here long enough to know the truth of hardly anything, so we should be more gentle with each other, because, we’re all doing the best we can, just making it up as we go along.' 'What I’m trying to say, is that we should all try and be a little more understanding with each other, because we’re all suffering from the same disease, mortality.

My favorite chapter is entitled Confabulation Nation and basically says that there are two sides to every story, none of us knows the whole of any story, and we should try a little harder to get along instead of making everything into an “us versus them” argument. But he did say the book is really funny and he likes it. I did have to block off one chapter for him to not read, because it’s about Anderson’s daughter discovering the truth about the Tooth Fairy, and all her fictional friends, and as my son still believes in said friends, I don’t want him reading that just yet. There is one use of the f-word, but he’s quoting someone else, and my son hasn’t gotten to that chapter yet. He brought me one “hell” and a “damn”, but he hears worse than that on PG movies, so I wasn’t worried about it. I did tell him that if he read anything he didn’t understand or that made him feel uncomfortable to stop reading. I didn’t think a book compiled from medical journal articles would be too far out there for him to read. I hadn’t started either book yet, and wasn’t sure just exactly how much romance was in the murder mystery. One was a murder mystery with a side of romance and the other was The Uncommon Thread. He had forgotten to bring a book on the camping trip, and I had two. I gave it to him when we were stuck in our tent one evening, trying to escape the bees.

I read this book in one sitting (mostly because I procrastinated, but also because it’s just that good), and in just a few hours, I smiled, laughed out loud, and cried. We have the pure silliness in “The Ghost and the Book Wright Expansions”, and in “Canine Behavior”, we learn how brilliant eight-year-olds are. I’m quite sure none of his kids will forget that hunting trip. He tells a funny and sweet story about hunting with his kids. Others are serious, like his opinions on healthcare and the economy.

Anderson had to tell a patient on Christmas Day that she had cancer, and the lesson he learned on that day. The Uncommon Thread is full of stories about everything from hunting, to Italy, to the family’s rescued pets.

The Uncommon Thread by R. Scott Anderson