how much hot water does it take to finish a book?

i simply had to finish this book.

i sent my kids away(thank you, jacquie and curtis), and i went into the tub until i was pruny; and luckily, i didn't run out of hot water while finishing Testimony.

i know i said that it was bugging me, but "bugging" isn't the right word. it was like a foreboding feeling that was lingering constantly in the back of my mind. in this book we are looking at 5 families that are forever altered, if not completely destroyed. a reader has to step back and ask:

how would i respond?

is there something that a parent could do to let a child know that there is nothing they could do that would make the parent not love them? how do you ease the guilt off their shoulders when they realize that one decision has forever changed their own future, as well as that of the parent?

on the other hand, is there something a child might do that a parent couldn't forgive? and altho that seems like conditional love--is it possible to be so disgusted with your kids that your love is shadowed in that disgust? God, i hope not.

then, how can you let these "young immortals" know that every choice has a consequence--whether it be good or bad? and no matter the consequence, the path veers one way or another. as adults, it's easy to see the path you've taken to get you to today; teenagers don't necessarily see that... it's almost like they are looking at the horizon of their future, without remembering the course that brought them to the cusp of tomorrow. i've been on that precipice, and maybe that's why i'm always walking around with a safety net for my boys.

at powells.com, there is a video of anita shreve talking about the book. it's always interesting to see what the authors have to say about their work...

i'm wondering if i should again request a little help on this title... at this point i kind of like working title--but i'm still open to suggestions, and i really will send you a book. really!

also i'm sitting at the library typing away--what a great job i have--thinking about doing a rating system... but i think not. i'm not really a reviewer, and i think that books strike people in different ways on different days. i would hate to dissuade a book from being read just because i didn't like it. i mean, really, that would wipe out most of the world's great fantasy and sci-fi novels. the last thing i want is a bunch of readers freaking out on me because i gave a bad rating for newest Mercedes Lackey book... which i wouldn't even read in the first place... all of this rambling over a moot point. so, no ratings.

i did like Testimony tho... it's new and by Anita Shreve... maybe your local library has a copy...