the five people you meet in heaven.

I have a confession. I still haven't finished Eclipse. I thought about bringing it on my trip with me, but I'm embarassed to read it in public. I guess I'm much more of a book snob than I thought. Sorry, but it's true. I can't stand to be thought of as one of those girls who screams "I LOVE YOU EDWARD!!!!!" at the movie theater when the Twilight trailor starts. Anyway... enough of that rant.

Instead of Eclipse, I read The Five People You Meet in Heaven. I actually really enjoyed it. I was worried that it would be a super sappy book like The Christmas Box, or The Gift, or any number of books by Richard Paul Evans. Sappiness kind of grosses me out. Anyway, it was good. Here is a peek:

After Eddie's tragic death, he meets five people in heaven who have impacted his life in some way. They help him to understand the meaning and importance of his life. They also help him come to terms with people and experiences that have been haunting him for years. The book presents some really interesting insight on life & death. The only thing that bothered me was the concept of heaven that the author created. It seems so lonely to me! As a whole, I would definately recommend it. It was a short & worthwhile read with a powerful story.

I'll share one of my favorite parts. The first person Eddie meets in heaven, the Blue Man, tells him about the part Eddie played in his own death. This is what the he tells Eddie while they are watching the Blue Man's funeral:

"Did you ever wonder? Why people gather when others die? Why people feel they should? It is because the human spirit knows, deep down, that all lives intersect. That death doesn't just take someone, it misses someone else, and in the small distance between being taken and being missed, lives are changed. You say you should have died instead of me. But during my time on earth, people died instead of me, too. It happens every day. When lightning strkes a minute after you are gone, or an airplane crashes that you might have been on. When your colleague falls ill and you do not. We think such things are random. But there is a balance to it. One withers, another grows. Birth and death are part of a whole."

I give it 3 out of 5 stars.