By VIKTORIA SUNDQVIST

Most of the time, I have this strange habit of doing everything in order. I must read books in the order they were published, and I prefer to read a book before I see the movie.

With Dan Brown's "Angels & Demons" I made an exception.

I devoured "The DaVinci Code" back in the winter of 2006 and loved it. I saw the movie the following summer. Unfortunately, I never got around to reading "Angels & Demons" before the movie came out on DVD, so my husband made me watch it despite not having read the book.

Finally, I decided to give the book a try anyway a few weeks ago, and I couldn't put it back down. I had intended to just read a little, but I ended up staying up late at night just to read "a few more pages."

You see, it's one of those books with dangerously short chapters, and you keep on just reading and reading.

The downside was that I kept picturing Tom Hanks as the main character, symbologist Robert Langdon, as he ran through Rome on his quest to find the path of illumination and help thwart an attempt of destroying Vatican City. And I kept thinking "was this in the movie?" every time I got a step closer to the truth, thinking too many details from the book had been left out.

Despite having seen the movie, I feel the book gave me a better idea of what the inside of the Vatican looks like and the workings of the Swiss Guard, sworn to protect the pope. And despite protests from religious fanatics, I believe the book can make a believer out of anyone.