AT ONCE an incredible adventure narrative and a penetrating biographical portrait, The River of Doubt, is the true story of Theodore Roosevelt's harrowing exploration of one of the most dangerous rivers on earth.

by Candice Millard

This will be my new companion on my long flight from the west coast to the east. Should i keep my nose in the book or should i dare to look outside hoping to catch the bombs bursting in the air on that night of July 4th. if there be explosions they'll be explosions from another perspective, from another dimension. then again it's a big, thick book, so i should try and finish it on the one-way trip. i don't want to be tempted to read this book A River of Doubt while taking my classes. that's gotta be one heck of a motivation or one heck of a distraction. i'd probably get distracted since i have terrible stage fright ever since i was a baby. i remember i was terrified to look at a costumed character in the eye at disneyland, granted though it was a scary character (a wolf w/ big teeth). i still have that picture somewhere too. and i also remember being too shy in kindergarten, so most of my attention went to a giant stuffed teddy bear where all the books were. hmm, maybe that's why i find some level of comfort around books (not necessarily reading them, but just being surrounded by them).