One silent sleepless night - Spencer W. Kimball

I bought this book about 8 years ago at DI, and despite the fact that it is really short (only about 30 full pages), it has taken me this long to get around to reading it.

This was a very fast read - taking about 30-45 minutes to read it slowly.

In this book, President Kimball wrote about his experiences one night after he had part of his vocal cords removed. He was unable to sleep, and found his mind wandered over various experiences, particularly his childhood in Thatcher, AZ. When his mind came back to the present, he discovered only a few minutes had passed each time. He felt he had to be quiet to avoid waking his wife who had been through a few difficult days of her own while worrying about and caring for him.

I enjoyed this short story and found I could easily relate. There have been many times when I have been unable to sleep with no one to talk to and feeling the need to be quiet. It can be a very lonely and frustrating feeling.

This was also an easy and enjoyable way to learn a bit about his life.

Into the Light - John Lerma, M.D.

Into the Light: Real life stories about angelic visits, visions of the afterlife, and other pre-death experiences.

This book is written by a hospice doctor who has worked with many people who have experienced angelic beings and near-death experiences. Amazingly, the people he has spoken with all describe very similar beings and scenes.

Each described a life review, some lasting longer than others, in which they were able to see their entire life and work through things that were unresolved. Dr. Lerma was skeptical at first, but was amazed that some of his patients relayed personal messages to him from the beings which visited them. The details in these messages were sometimes so personal that the patient would have had no way of knowing these details.

Each chapter is an account about working with a different person. Some of these people are lifelong Christians, but others are atheists, agnostics, and believers from other faiths. Some of them lead lives which they believed would keep them from heaven. Those who felt unworthy describe their life reviews, but that they were able to work through the things that were unresolved and they felt reconciled before they died.

Works of Willa Cather 1873-1947

12 Novels

Alexander's Bridge - 1912

O Pioneers! - 1913

The Song of the Lark - 1915

My Antonia - 1918

One of Ours - 1922

A Lost Lady - 1923

The Professor's House - 1925

My Mortal Enemy - 1926

Death Comes for the Archbishop - 1927

Shadows on the Rock - 1931

Lucy Gayheart - 1935

Sapphira and the Slave Girl - 1940

6 Short Stories

"The Troll Garden" - 1905

"Collected Short Fiction" - 1892-1912

"Youth and the Bright Medusa" - 1920

"Uncle Valentine and Other Stories" - 1915-1929

"Obscure Destinies" - 1932

"The Old Beauty and Others" - 1948

1 Poetry Book

April Twilights - 1903

1 Book of Essays

Not Under Forty - 1936

Miscellaneous

Willa Cather on Writing - 1949

Willa Cather on Europe - 1956

Recommended Biographer: Mildred Bennett

Provided by The Willa Cather Foundation, 413 North Webster Street, Red Cloud, Nebraska 68970, 402-746-2653, 402-746-2641, www.WillaCather.org

The Wednesday Letters - Jason F. Wright

This book begins with the deaths an elderly couple. Jack Cooper has an inoperable brain tumor and has been close to death for several months. His wife, Laurel, seems to be in good health and is caring for him. However, one evening as they lay down for bed, Laurel has a heart attack. Jack is too weak to reach the phone and call for help, and he passes away shortly after Laurel.

Their three children gather, along with a few close family friends, as they prepare for the funeral. They discover several boxes in the basement which are filled with letters from Jack to Laurel - one written every week for the entire time they were married.

These letters reveal many family secrets and the motivation behind many of the decisions Jack and Laurel made.

Matthew, the oldest child, is dealing with a troubled marriage. Samantha is a local police officer, and a single mother. Malcolm returns from Brazil after fleeing two years earlier to avoid jail.

Malcolm's story seems to be the most troubled. He and Jack never got along well, and he resented that. He got in several fights, the last of which was to protect Rain, his former girlfriend and an adopted member of the Cooper family. He almost killed a man who had forced her to leave a bar and was trying to take off with her. In the process, he punched Rain's current boyfriend, Nathan, who is a county prosecutor, when Nathan said, "Leave it alone. She's not worth it."

The two biggest secrets that come out during the book are that Malcolm was fathered by another man when he got drunk and followed Laurel home, breaking into her house. It bothered me that Laurel was raped by a random homeless man, since this kind of thing can perpetuate the myth that sexual violence is usually perpetrated by strangers who attack people in the night.

It turns out that the homeless man who raped is mother is now one of the local preachers. This information comes out slowly through the letters, sending Malcolm on a roller coaster ride. This to me was very far-fetched, and I think the book would have been better without this.

It also turns out that Nathan set-up the bar scene two years before, clearing Malcolm of all charges so he doesn't have to run anymore.

Overall, this was a good book detailing the lives of good people. It was interesting to see how their choices affected themselves and each other.