Now this doesn't sound like a comment that needs an exclamation point following it, but it's rare that I do...finish a book that is.

I don't know whether it's short attention span, adult attention deficit disorder, no time, too much Tivo time or what, but I have a hard time making it through even the easiest to read book.

But this time I did. I just finished "Last Man Down" about one of the 911 FDNY firefighters that was trapped in a stairway in the north tower of the WTC. It was an interesting read and the whole time I was reading it, I was just imagining that scene over and over again of the buildings falling. I still can't believe that anyone made it out alive.

One of the most interesting (and sad) parts of the book was the story about when the guy was making his descent down the stairs (before the fall, but the south tower had already tumbled). On each floor from about the 23rd one down, he would scan the floor for survivors before he headed down to the next floor. On one floor, he came across a firefighter, sitting in one of the offices, calmly smoking a cigarette. Seems this guy didn't make it out, and the author felt that he didn't want to. He'd had lots of financial, family problems so this guy just was going to go down with the building. Evidently, this happens, although rarely (hopefully). Sad, so sad...

Having finished this book, now I'm encouraged to start another. This one is interesting too..."Jarhead"...a memoir of a Marine in the first Gulf War. Not your usual rah-rah, but how it really is. I don't want to call it anti-war, but it's definitely not pro-war either. And of course, the whole time I'm reading it, I'm thinking about my son Matthew and the things he didn't tell me...probably a good thing!