Sometimes I read one book all the way through, other times I read several books all at once. I get bored easy, that or I'm must plain fickle. Here's what I've been reading (I've been taking a short break from reading children's books):
Finished 90-Minutes in Heaven, Don Piper. I had mixed feelings about this book. While I do believe in heaven, I don't believe people die, then immediately go there. Much less, do I believe that people go there, only to return and tell us about it. So, while I respect the authors right to believe what he believes, and I don't question his sincerety, I was skeptical. Besides that, one thing confused me. The author, who was in an horrific auto traffic accident, his body mangled as the result of being literally run over by an 18-wheeler, then pronounced dead at the scene, claims not to remember anything about this awful day. What he knows was recounted to him by others — police reports, witnesses. But he also goes on to describe, in detail, everything about thoughts going through his mind, and his feelings following the accident, even what the doctors looked like. How did someone tell him what he was thinking about? Anyway, all that said, I still enjoyed this book. This story, if anything, serves as a reminder that we are mortal, we don't know when we are going, so, everyday, we need to live life to it's fullest. And, I've been keeping my eyes pinned on 18-wheelers.
Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life (Little Brown, Nov. 2006), Wendy Mass. An advanced copy that I picked up from ALA, or TLA, I can't remember. Jeremy Fink intercepts a package from the mailman, a package intended for his mother. It contains a wooden box sent by a lawyer on behalf of his father. Thing is, Jeremy's father's been dead for five years. Inside the box — meant to be opened on his 13th birthday — is contained the meaning of life. The box is locked, and the keys to the four key holes have been lost. And Jeremy's birthday is just days away. That's as far as I've read, and it's just enough suspense to keep the pages turning.
Watching Words, Ivan Chermayeff and Tom Geismar
One of my coworkers gave me a tremendously cool book, though I can't figure out if it's a children's book, or what. Published by Chronicle, it will especially appeal to graphic designers and typographers. There are no pictures, only words, playing, dancing, clever uses of typography. It's one you have to see, because it's difficult to describe. I like it.
Mobile Mansions, Douglas Keister is another book given to me by a coworker. It's a very cool coffee table-ish book with great photos of outrageous...yes, RVs. These unique homes on wheels have a special place in my heart since we spent many a weekend camping with my grandparents in their Holiday Rambler.
The Embrace of a Father, compiled by Wayne Holmes
I'd love to write a book like this. This book offers a variety of inspirational vignettes about fatherhood.
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