Davis Bunn’s newest novel, Book of Dreams, releases this week to a world struggling with economic woes. Appropriately enough, Book of Dreams focuses on corruption within the banking industry and a select team who, because of dreams and visions, feel called to challenge the status quo. Book of Dreams is a thrilling page-turner that kept me reading (rather than dreaming) until late into the night.
For a chance to win a copy of Book of Dreams, see the instructions at the bottom of this post!
Here is the book summary, courtesy of Howard Books, a division of Simon & Schuster.
For Dr. Elena Burroughs, life is divided into two chapters—before and after the death of her husband. Today marks the point that her span of being a wife is equal to her span of being a widow. Even her success as a psychologist and her worldwide acclaim for a book on the interpretation of dreams is dimmed by an unspoken “If only.”
Then a new patient arrives, one so private only her first name is given. Impeccably dressed and escorted by two bodyguards, Sandra recounts a frightening series of recurrent nightmares. Elena agrees to consider her case more carefully, convinced that something ominous may be at work here.
Elena’s interpretation of Sandra’s dreams confirms that, indeed, the new patient and her family confront a powerful global network of dangerous forces. As the story unfolds, they face a key question of the Christian life: How do you understand and fulfill the will of God?
The characters in Book of Dreams seem to actually live and breathe amongst the lines of this beautiful story. Bunn is a master story-teller, making the settings of Oxford and Rome spring to life as his characters struggle with extradordinary inner turmoil and outer conflict. I love how he used dreams and nightmares to bring his characters together and have them seek after God’s will for their lives.
Now for some great news! I’m excited to announce that Simon & Schuster is offering my blog readers the opportunity to win their own copy of Book of Dreams. To enter, leave a comment which includes your name, e-mail address, and a description of a silly (or scary) dream that you’ve experienced. The winner will be chosen randomly from the entries. The constest will close on Thursday, October 13th at 12:00 pm Pacific Time and I will notify the winner (by e-mail) on Friday. I suggest spelling out your email address in this format: “name (at) at place (dot) com” to protect you from address collecting programs.
To start off the conversation…I frequently experience a dream where I’m wandering through my house and discover that it has all kinds of extra rooms that I never discovered before. Each room is decorated and furnished and I have a grand time exploring these new treasures.
So what kind of crazy dreams have you had? And I don’t have to warn you to keep it clean, right? 😉
To learn more about Book of Dreams, read the first chapter here.
I have a recurring dream about flying and falling. Often I realize that I can fly around to places I am going, but sometimes in the middle of the dream it’s like I am a cartoon character who runs off the edge of the cliff but doesn’t fall until they look down and realize they have walked off the edge!
Bethany (bethany at bethanyhailephotography dot com)
The dream that drives me crazy is when I am talking with someone and I just can’t open my eyes to see them. No matter how hard I try, I can’t enter into the dream scene. (and many of those times I am only in my underwear!). Is that too graphic to post???
PS:
Vicki
leick5 at comcast dot net
Bethany, that’s funny–I have that one, too. When I “fly” in dreams, though, it’s more like swimming through the air. I’d like to be able to soar, but I only seem able to doggy-paddle. 🙂
Vicki–Good one! What is it about underwear dreams? That seems pretty universal, but I don’t think I’ve had one. Of course, I have other ways of embarrassing myself in dreams. Just ask my husband about my spider-stomping dreams. He sometimes ends up with bruised shins.
I was walking down the hallway of (supposedly) my house, past the living room where my older brother was sitting on the edge of the couch, leaning forward with his elbows planted firmly on his thighs.
Directly ahead of me was a bedroom door with two knobs: one above the other.
I took hold of the upper knob and pushed open the upper half of the door. Inside to the right were my dad and my Uncle Henry(both have been dead for a while now).
They were dressed in formal clothes, laughing, and celebrating with a host of people I did not recognize. But at the sight of my dad a lump immediately tightened in my throat and tears filled so fast I couldn’t keep them from spilling over.
I opened the lower half of the door to come inside and hold him. He rushed toward me and gently closed the lower part shut again.
“You can’t come over yet, Fer-Fer (my nick name). And don’t cry. I’m happy here.”
Then I looked over to the other side of the room and saw the backside of my mother sitting on her bed dressed in her nightgown, friends consoling her in her cancerous state. (She also died several years back from cancer.) A very somber picture indeed. And then I woke.
When I’d told my brother about the dream, he was the one who was scared.
“Sounds like I’m next,” he told me. Exactly my thoughts too. Gratefully, we happened to have the kind of relationship that allowed such transparency. My brother died two years later.
The dream had opened a door for us to make that journey together, as we talked about God, the meaning of life and the inevitability of his imminent death which did come in 2008.
That’s very powerful, Jennifer. Thank you so much for sharing it with us!
I have had the same dream occasionally since before I got married in 1975.
The main thing I can remember of it is that I am running and running and can’t seem to get away from this merry-go-round that isn’t hooked to the ground, but follows me around.
I never remember the whole thing till I have the dream again, then when I wake up it is like, “Oh I remember now.” but it has been over a year now since it came back
Pam Williams
cepjwms at wb4me dot com
i always have a dream that i am back in high school and i don’t know my schedual or where i am supposed to be and emma is in the school day care as an infant. or i get called in to a a past job to work for the day and hating it i go back and get into a fight with me boss. i hate those dreams!
kalli lathrom
kallinalathrom at gmail dot com
Margaret Nelson
jnelson at skyhighway dot com
The first nightmare I remember having involved people holding me in the back seat of a car and sprinkling cinnamon on my face. I woke up terrified, and then later tried to figure out why sprinkling cinnamon on my face was so scary!
Hi there! I love Davis Bunn’s books, and am anxious to read this one. I am noted for my dreams – I tend to walk and talk in my sleep so it’s always an adventure here. One night I dreamed there were woodchucks piling out of the bottom dresser drawer. (I’d been battling the neighborhood woodchucks for several weeks as they ravaged my garden) I awoke and realized it was only a dream when I attempted to turn on my bedside lamp and smashed it.
Tara joentara@verizon.net