First Book of 2011

I was at Chapters the other day and I came across this book, Body of Work, by Christine Montross. I liked the cover, so I stopped and picked it up to read the jacket.

The story is Montross' account of her year-long dissection of a human body during med school. Her work leads her to explore the history of dissection in medieval times which led to this medical practice today. The book is beautifully written-Montross was a poet and writing teacher before she decided to go to medical school. While this story could be perceived as gory, it's not. What it gives you is an intimate look at the human body as seen through the eyes of someone who never loses sight of the fact that the corpse she is working on was a fellow human being.

I had to have this book. I enjoy medical science. When I was 5, I wanted to be a forensic pathologist. Why? Well I watched "Quincy", alot. It was fascinating to me. (Yes, I know that makes me an odd little kid.) The best part of finding this book was that it was on the $5 or less table. I paid a whopping $2 for it! (It was a $31 CDN originally!)

I am three chapters in and loving it. It's engaging from an artistic standpoint, the way she relates her experience and the wonder she expresses in the beauty of our anatomy.

Next up will be Holding Fast: The untold Story of the Mt. Hood Tragedy by Karen James. My son gave me this one to add to my mountaineering collection. He was smart enough to call me from the book store when he was shopping. He stood in the sports section and read off the mountaineering titles to me. I was on the other end saying "Read it, read it, read it, read it."

There's very little on that subject I haven't read-it's a bit of an obsession with me. Eventually he hit on a couple new titles I hadn't read and he bought one. I'm looking forward to reading this one, as it's "local"-it takes place just south of us in Washington State.

There's nothing I love more than a good book!