Today's newspaper reminds me of Black Friday - it was that thick, I thought there must be some new focus on Labor Day Holiday sales. Silly me. It's the start of football season. Pro football, college football, high school football, little league, even the new version of the video game 'Madden'. Individual sections of the newspaper are devoted to each Florida College football team, another section devoted just to our Miami Dolphins, and then the overall outlook for the NFL.

I'm not complaining, really! I like to watch a little football here and there, like when The Dolphins are in the playoffs. And I think it's great when guys get completely absorbed in watching 14 games at once with 'picture in picture' on TV. It just means I can sneak away with a stack of books and relish uninterrupted time to read. You want something to eat while you watch football? Great! Order a pizza. You watch. I'll read. It all works so well.

Choosing what to read generally comes down to which side of my Gemini personality is present at the moment. Sometimes I want something non-fiction and inspiring, sometimes only a thriller will keep my attention, and depending how busy my week has been, I might want something that requires no effort from my brain whatsoever. Maybe that would be the time to delve into the 'Fifty Shades' trilogy. Everyone I know is reading them. I downloaded a sample from Amazon, and didn't get too caught up in the story. But maybe the free sample doesn't include the parts that have 'captured' so many women's imagination, Jeff's wife is on to the second book in the series, 'Fifty Shades Darker' - maybe I can borrow her copy of 'Grey'. After Jeff finishes reading it.

Meanwhile, there are some other new books coming out that look interesting. Dwyane Wade's book, 'A Father First: How My Life Became Bigger Than Basketball' will be on book shelves Tuesday, and Dwyane will support the release with a series of TV and book store appearances. He'll be on hand to autographing the book Friday, September 7th at the Books and Books location at The Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale; and on Sunday, September 9th at Books and Books in Coral Gables. You need to reserve a voucher in advance - you can click the links for the details.

Later in September, J.K. Rowling releases her first book since her Harry Potter series, and this one's written for adults. Based on the description, 'Casual Vacancy' sounds like a comic detective story with some underlying social and political commentary. Although he might be a little biased, after reading the novel, her publisher called her "one of the great writers of all time". As a fan of Harry, Hermione, Dumbledore and the rest of the Hogwarts gang, I'll for sure want to give this one a shot.

Also in late September, Wyclef Jean appears at Miami Dade College to talk about his book 'Purpose: An Immigrant's Story', which tells about his life from his struggles as a child growing up in Haiti, to his success as a musician / artist in America. With all he's lived and seen, it's got to be a compelling read.