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“Regret hung from the hem of everyone's lives, a rip cord reminder that what you want is not always what you get. Look at himself, outliving Aimee. Or Az, trying to find his daughter, only to have her wind up dead. Look at Shelby, with a child who was dying by degrees. Ethan, born into a body nobody deserves. At some point or another, everyone was failed by this world. Disappointment was the one thing humans had in common.
Taken this way, Ross didn't feel quite so alone. Trapped in your whirlpool of what might have been, you might no be able to drag yourself out - but you could be saved by someone else who reached in.”
Jodi Picoult, Second Glance

I just finished reading this book by Jodie Picoult. I know I make fun of her a lot and some of it is justifiable (she forces plot twists, she has similar characters in all her books, she tries intentionally to be shocking,and she churns out books as often as Peyton Manning films a new commercial...) but when I need a fast, interesting read where the writing is somewhat decent, I turn to her. This particular one was about the paranormal which is such a fascinating and polarizing subject. Some people flat out refuse to believe that ghosts exist and others are true believers and then there are people like me who try to be open minded. How can we possibly know if spirits or heaven or some other realm exists? We can't and I personally think there is sooo much we don't know that its rather silly to outright refuse to believe that this world and what we can physically see is all there is. I would bet on the fact that everyone single person in this world has had some sort of strange experience that maybe wouldn't be classified as paranormal but unexplainable. There are so many shows and books out there with peoples stories of ghosts or evil spirits or remembrance of past lives. Its hard to say that they are all making it up right? Some of these stories have to be real. I choose to believe that because it is comforting. I would like to believe that there is something after we die. Its too scary not to. I love reading strories about weird, creepy ghostly things. I always have. In high school I ate up Stephen King novels like they were candy. I remember one time after finishing "It" I was so freaked out I didn't sleep for 3 nights. Every creak and groan my old house made was that damn clown coming after me. Anyone who knows me also knows that I have a hugely irrational fear of clowns or anything with face makeup and a costume for that matter. I hate them - they are all evil evil things. But I digress. I love "The Walking Dead" and "Dexter" (well after the series finale last week, I may have to rethink that) and scary stories even if they make me paranoid and scared to death. I have a very vivid imagination, I guess that's what makes me love reading and writing so much. I also just read a beachy type book by Elin Hildenbrand. She is another great throwaway author. That sounds so awful doesn't it? I'm sure these women love that I call them that although what the hell do they care? They are the ones with successful writing careers and big paychecks and I'm the one toiling away at this blog scraping my pennies.  Who gets the last laugh? yea its not me. The book was about love and family and heartbreak and everything she always writes about but it was a great stress relief after a long week and I read it in 2 days. I also recently read 2 books on fitness both a little tedious so I wont' bore you with the details. As you can see I am taking full advantage of my new local library. Speaking of that,now that I have a full library at my disposal, it may be time to get another classic under my belt.  I have some time on my hands seeing that I don't have an hour and a half commute to work so it seems like the perfect time to dive back in.

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