By Kristen Krueger-Corrado, Grand Rapids Public Library

Eventually, we are all going to die. But what happens to our bodies and our spirits after we pass on? Well, apparently there are a lot more options available than you might have realized. Author Mary Roach explores the subject in her two books, Stiff and Spook.

Roach’s first book, Stiff, examines what happens to our bodies after we die. She looks at the traditional embalming and funeral route, but also looks at the alternatives that a person can choose. For example, if you donate your body to science, you could become an anatomy lesson for a medical school student, or you could be involved in other types of research. In one chapter, Roach looks at cadavers that are used in car crash tests. Researchers have found that by using a real body rather than a crash test dummy, they can more accurately see how a person is injured in an accident. This has led to the development of technology that helps save lives.

Before reading this book, I would have never considered donating my body to science, but after reading about all the cool things your body can do after your spirit has passed on, (Help real-life CSI investigators solve a case! Get a post-mortem facelift!), I’m all for donation.

In her second book Spook, Roach investigates what happens to our souls after we die. She travels to India to talk to a newly reincarnated person; she opens the last existing box of ‘ectoplasm’ used by mediums at the turn of the century; visits a haunted castle in England; and talks to researchers trying to determine the weight of our souls. She attends séances, ghost hunts and even enrolls in medium school.

Roach uses a journalistic eye to explore death. She is never disrespectful of the dead or of a person’s beliefs and she presents various aspects of dying and the afterlife with a dead-on combination of irreverent humor and informative respect. Both books are fascinating reads.