The last time I worked at the library I picked up a couple of books on their discard shelves (these are books that may be actually from the library collection or could be donations that have not been adopted into the collection, lucky me) One of the books I picked up was Spook by Mary Roach.
Spook is non-fiction, but the premise sounded interesting: a skeptic uses science to prove or disprove an afterlife. In the course of the book the author visits India to talk to researchers into reincarnation, she examines the historical and modern day attempts to weigh the soul at the moment of death, she talks about mediums and ectoplasm, delves into a legal case involving a ghost and a will, and finally lets one scientist blast her with electromagnetic waves. Her conclusion? Inconclusive.
I loved this book not only because the topic was interesting, but because of the approach. Roach admits she approached the topic with skepticism but she also presented the information with a tremendous amount of humor. I intended to read this book when I was waiting around during tennis lessons but ended up wanting to read it at bedtime as well because I was enjoying it so much. In the end, I had to restrict my reading time to daylight hours however because I was laughing too hard to be able to relax enough to sleep. I haven’t laughed that hard at a book in ages. I giggled my way through tennis lessons instead.
The book may not have been adopted into the library’s collection, but it has certainly earned a spot on my own shelves.
