Haunted by "Black"

This is the only word to describe my experience with this book. Haunted.

Not the kind of book I would generally be drawn to. I failed to notice the "Inspirational" sticker that the library had given it. I'm not sure exactly what this label means, but I think it is code for "religious" or "Christian".

The book is kind of a strange cross between sci-fi, thriller, and Christain inspiration. This description makes it sound like a book destined for the "Life too Short" list, but I'm liking it in spite of myself. A regular Joe Schmo (or so it seems) suddenly begins entering another world/universe when he falls asleep in the "real world". The alternate world is divided between the colored forest (GOOD) in which the people and angel-like creatures live and the black forest (EVIL) where the bats live. Good and evil have not mixed in this dimension. Here he learns all sorts of crazy things about what is soon to happen in the "real world". Based on this info from the dream world he embarks on a quest to save the real world.

Sounds super cheesy, I know. For some reason this book is doing it for me right now. I am not exactly sure why, except that I am intrigued by the religious elements and how Dekker weaves that into the story.

This is the first book in the trilogy. I will have to read the others....

The Demon in the Freezer

I finished this book yesterday and I will be processing it for awhile. This is the kind of book that a hypochondriac like me should stay FAR FAR away from and yet I appreciated this story more than any I have read in quite some time.

Essentially this is the story of biological weapons and most notably, smallppox. Before reading this I knew not a thing about smallpox. All I have to say about it now is "Wow!". What a devastating and horrible disease. The author writes about it beautifully. Sounds strange, but it is the truth. This is the story of this disease and the people that worked to eradicate it. Phenomenal

I take away from this book a truly profound sense of the precariousness of our lives. Evil does exist in the world and it can gain power. This sounds negative, but acknowledging this truth has been liberating for me. So, carpe diem. I am about as far from the "seize the day" camp as a person can get, but I am reexamining this position. And isn't that what a book should do?

Confessions of a Serial Reader

I read many books at one time. I understand that I am not alone in this, but sometimes I feel that it is a bit compulsive. At any given day I have at least three books going:

1. The standard book in the purse book. This is generally fiction.

2. The book in the car book. This is a book on CD and is typically whatever looks good in the library.

3. The all over the place book. This is a book on tape that I listen to while I exercise, shower, cook, etc.

Yeah......it's an illness.

What's Happening NOW?

At the moment, I am reading Hawaii by James Michener. This is a book club selection. Not really my kind of book, but that's why I joined a book club, right? To expand my horizons. That's what I'm telling myself as I wade through the 1036 pages of this book. So far, I have made it through 225. Actually, the story is pretty compelling.

I am also reading Something More: Excavating Your Authentic Self by Sarah Ban Breathnach. I have never really gotten into self-help kind of books, but this is really something. I think I will be able to get alot of useful ideas from this book. Looking fwd to it. Of course, I will need to actually DO the work suggested by the book to get any benefit from it. This is where I typically fall short. Not this time.....right???

In the car I am reading Black, the first in a trilogy by Ted Dekker. This book caught my attention at the library. It has an electric lime color and that cover spoke to me. Another book that I would not generally read (almost kind of sci-fi), but I am REALLY getting into it. Glad I picked it up.

So Far this Year.....

So, it's May and I've decided to chronicle my adventures in reading during 2005. Only five months behind, not too bad.....

Here is my list of what I have read so far this year.

Kiss Me, Kill Me..................Ann Rule (true crime)
Acceptable Risk...................Robin Cook (medical mystery)
Little Children......................Tom Perrotta (fiction)
A Theory of Relativity.........Jacquelyn Mitchard (fiction)
The Cases that Haunt Us.....Mark Olshaker (true crime)
Chromosome Six...................Robin Cook (medical mystery)
Rose Madder.........................Stephen King (horror)
Skywriting..............................Jane Pauley (memoir)
The Family.............................Kitty Kelley (biography)
Loud and Clear.....................Anna Quindlen (nonfiction)
Odd Thomas..........................Dean Koontz (horror)
My Sister's Keeper................Jodi Piccoult (fiction)
Skinny Dip.............................Carl Hiassen (fiction)
Before You Know Kindness.Chris Bojahalian (fiction)
The Time Travelers Wife....Audrey Niffenegger (fiction)
Babyville...............................Jane Green (fiction)
Blue Diary............................Alice Hoffman (fiction)
Confessions of a Shopaholic...Sophie Kinsella (fiction)
The Demon in the Freezer....Richard Preston (nonfiction)