I would check off the following boxes of jobs that I would like to have: ER triage, air traffic control and programming the NFL Schedule. I thrive in an environment where the pace is fast and each one of these jobs has that. Since I have absolutely no aptitude in science, the ER triage job is not being offered to me any time soon. Thus I love watching ER and medical shows. I still miss Chicago Hope. (Okay, I confess that I had a wicked crush on Peter Berg.) I also like reading books about the medical profession.
There's a new memoir just out for those of you who, like me, also enjoy reading about medicine. It's called HOT LIGHTS, COLD STEEL: Life, Death and Sleepless Nights in a Surgeon's First Years by Michael J. Collins. It details the challenges that are faced by an orthopedic surgeon during his four training years at the prestigious Mayo Clinic. I like the way this book focuses on Collins' humanity as well as his growing talent as a surgeon. He starts out green and ends up a pro. His writing is engaging and the tone is endearing. You'll yawn with him through sleepless nights, sweat the life threatening challenges and embrace his tales of his wife and growing family. I closed it wanting to meet Collins. If I break my arm or leg, I want him to be my doctor.
Last year I discovered a new author named Charles Martin, who wrote a book that I was crazy about called THE DEAD DON'T DANCE. His second book WRAPPED IN RAIN will be out in March and it solidified my feelings about him. I started it Thurs night and it kept me company on my flight from Nashville to home on Friday. I finished it yesterday morning and immediately saw that there is no sophomore slump for Martin. He is a writer who writes emotion so the story wraps around you and then it tucks away somewhere inside you and stays with you. The plot goes like this. Two brothers grow up with an abusive father and they are raised by a nanny/housekeeper who keeps them on a course that is steeped in "doing the right thing." It's billed as Christian-based fiction, but let's just say that the message does not get in the way of the story. It just works. VERY worth exploring.
Yesterday and today I found myself on the couch giving into a cold that sapped my energy this past week. I read THE BITCH POSSE by Martha O'Connor what will be coming out in May. In it, three high school girls form a trio in Holland, Illinois back in 1988 and forge a partnership that will haunt them in the years to come. It's egdy, dark and very unnerving. These women each have a story, which will follow them in the decades to come and chart the course that she lives on. I can see why people are excited about O'Connor and have been giving this one attention.
Off to pluck another book from my towering "to be read" pile. More to come....
