I could swim in this book (The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak). The imagery and the words were so thick that I found myself slowing down and re-reading whole paragraphs and pages. Which I never do because I am constantly rushing through books to get to the next one.

The topic isn't uplifting or happy; it's about death and survival during the holocaust. But the sadness didn't linger with me afterwards (like after I read The Kite Runner and I moped around the house for three weeks). What stayed with me was the hope and the love and the endurance of human kindness.

So there you have it, my deep non-mom book recommendation for the month. I'm always open to suggestions if you've got any!