It was the year 2008. My family and I had already been bitten by the Ghost Hunters (T.A.P.S.) bug, and I remember many nights watching Crossing Over with John Edward before bed in my old condo. Other than always having a love for a good scary movie, that was pretty much the extent of my paranormal life.

A few years earlier an ex had inspired me to start reading the Tales of the City series by Armistead Maupin. Reading was something I absolutely never did unless I was getting a grade for it, and I could count every book I’d read for pleasure my whole life on one hand and still have a few fingers left. I agreed to borrow the first book just to humor them. I absolutely fell in love with it, which led to me finishing the entire series of eight books (and rumor has it there is a ninth in the works). I was shocked to find that I was becoming obsessed with reading.

Now, back to 2008. I was walking through the bookstore (RIP Borders) and was struggling to find more fiction titles to add to my “to be read” shelf. On a bargain shelf next to the checkout I found James Van Praagh’s Ghosts Among Us and decided since it was cheap it was worth the try. O… M… G…

Seventy-some books later, most of them from the spiritual or paranormal genre, I look back and realize it probably isn’t any more mind-blowing than many of the other books I’ve read since, but it was the first, and it really kick started what I’ve been calling my “spiritual shift”. I loaned the book to my mother, who loved it as well. I have since loaned it to a few other people… and when I didn’t get it returned I went out and replaced it to put it on my shelf again (I’ve since created the “I am selfish with my books and don’t loan them out” rule. Don’t worry, I’m sure this rule will end when they halt the production of physical books…don’t get me started…or once I have to buy another book shelf or two.)

From the back of the book…

From a very young age James Van Praagh was aware of a dimension that most of us cannot see, and he has dedicated his life to explaining it to the rest of us. The New York Times bestseller Ghosts Among Us takes us on an incredible journey into the spirit world that brings to light one of our greatest mysteries – what happens to us after we die?

Go HERE for more about James Van Praagh…