A Book You'd Have to Be Dead to Pass Up

I think we all need a mental palate cleanser after the last month of romance recommendations.  Trust me - today's book, Stiff by Mary Roach, will not make you think of romance at all!

The book is about cadavers.  Yup, an entire book about dead bodies - that is absolutely fascinating.  Most importantly, it is written with a wry touch of humor.  While absolutely respectful, it lightens the tone just enough to elevate the subject matter from depressing to compelling.

You'll visit a human decay research facility that helps crime labs solve murders.  Learn about cadavers on the space shuttle, or being used in plastic surgery seminars and as crash test dummies. Body snatching, cannibalism, even how cadavers were used to solve the mysterious crash of TWA Flight 800. 

At times, the morbidity forced me to examine my own mortality, and I'd take a short break - but that is the beauty of a book set up in vignettes. My book club raced through this, and had so much to discuss.  Highly recommend this to everyone!