Science writer Mary Roach is known for tackling unusual subjects (her first book was Stiff: the Curious Lives of Human Cadavers) but always does so in an accessible and entertaining manner. Being somewhat skeptical of the subject, I hesitated to read Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife but did so (actually I listened to it) after enjoying her newest book, Packing for Mars: the Curious Science of Life in the Void, widely considered one of the best nonfiction titles of 2010.
There were parts where I found myself tuning out, but overall, Spook did not disappoint. Roach tells of reincarnation research in India, tries to record messages from the beyond and even goes to medium training. The research I found most interesting was that of Duncan MacDougall who, in 1907, weighed patients at the moment of death trying to determine the weight of the soul. And since Roach is skeptical herself, I didn't come away feeling that she was trying to persuade the reader one way or the other about any of the afterlife research she examines.
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