I'm reading 3 books at once!

For my students, let me preface this blog entry by saying that I do not encourage you to read three books at once!  Please don't!  LOL  However, I find that when reading nonfiction, it's totally possible.  While on Spring Break, I picked up books that I'd been meaning to read.  (I have stacks of them everywhere!)  More Glimpses of Heaven, by Trudy Harris, is a collection of stories submitted by hospice workers who have assisted in or witnessed  a person's final breath.  Every single one of the stories makes me cry, but I can't help but read them.  There is such compassion in the work of a hospice worker.  If there's a nurse in your family that you want to honor, this would be the book.  I promise you, these stories are precious.  Although they're true, they could have been the inspiration for Nicholas Sparks's The Notebook. 

The second book I'm reading is called Glimpses of Eternity by Raymond Moody, Ph.D.  Dr. Moody investigates shared-death experiences and shares the stories he's collected throughout his many years of research.  He has previously written articles and books about near-death experiences, but he began to notice that people wanted to tell him about what they'd experienced while at a loved one's bedside.  It seems that there are many people who have shared the near-death experience with family and friends and it has changed their lives.  I find this book to be comforting and inspiring.  The stories are pretty cool!  And, it's nice to read a book that blends scientific fact with Christian belief. 

And finally, the third book I'll finish with tonight is Patricia Cornwell's Portrait of a Killer, in which this well-known novelist shares her research on the Jack the Ripper case.  If you've read any of her books, you're familiar with Scarpetta and that Cornwell is not only an author, but a journalist who has worked hard to gain access to medical investigations, mortuaries, autopsies, criminal court cases,etc...to develop the Scarpetta character.  From the research I've conducted, Cornwell is a bull-dog when it comes to research.  She doesn't let go once she gets an idea in her mind and that's what happened one day in London when she was asked if she'd like to view the Ripper Letters.  That's all it took...she put her forensic experience to work and spent over 6 million of her own money and 13 months of her life attempting to solve the case.  I believe she did it although she has many skeptics.  If you're interested and don't want to buy the book or even read it, there's a nice overview of her research on YouTube.  Just search "Patricia Cornwell Stalking Jack the Ripper" and you'll find 6 videos to watch.  About an hour long.  You could also Google Walter Sickert, who Cornwell believes was Jack the Ripper and committed more than the 5 crimes that have become so infamous.  I'm not a Ripper aficionado, but my husband is and his statement concerning this book was, "If that author can explain why the murders stopped, I'll believe it."  Well, there is an explanation, but I'd hate to ruin it for you.  *Thanks to LT's husband for recommending this book for my husband.  It had lain in his book basket long enough and it was bugging me that he hadn't read it, so I picked it up hoping to read enough to entice him.  Wouldn't you know I'd get hooked???!

It's about time for more young adult fiction...
*And my Beth Moore Bible study is going well.  Day 4!

Happy Reading! (one book at a time kiddos!)
RC