How much do you read for your pleasure? Not the tomes you may be relegated to reading for work, not the books you have on your Goodreads list because you think it makes you appear erudite, I am talking about the ones you can’t take to the playground because the covers aren’t safe for little eyes! Or maybe your pleasure books have safe covers but you still feel the need to pretend to the world you don’t read anything that doesn’t raise your IQ by 10 points!
Well dear friends, I must confess to my fascination with the pleasure read. I read many things that may raise my IQ, I used to read a lot of technical papers, I now often read discourses on raising kids, following Christ, empowering myself, and how to stay married for 50 years. Yet, I love losing myself in fantasy, romance, paranormal fantasy romance (is that even a genre?). Anyway, I will give almost any book with people falling in love, lust or sometimes just steamy intercourse that might not lead to love, a chance. After all, I get tired of being responsible and reading about the best way to motivate your 6 year old! And in this age of the digital book, I have that many more ways to fill my book lover’s heart with words! I often have 7-10 books, in hand, to be read. I am also usually reading at least 2 of them at once (it is probably more like 3). I have no problem keeping the characters straight and though I try to just pick 2 or 3 books in total, I inevitably end up with pages and pages of books I want to read, then I see a new recommendation and off I go to add to the list. I am never going to complete these lists, great things are being written and found too often. How will I ever complete the task of reading all the books?!
But this little escape is starting to take over, I find myself being interested in the historical fiction, history, mysteries, and the ‘literature’ of the book world, but never enough to actually pick up the book and read it. I don’t want to come to conclusions about the protagonist, I don’t want to be wooed by backstory and research and real seeming lives. I want escape, fantasy, fast and steamy and I want these things all the time. Yet, I really want to read it all, both the latest literary thinker by Bill Beverly, the latest contemporary romance by Katie Meyer, the next steamy erotic romance from J.S. Danielle, or maybe the latest thriller by Daniel Silva. How is that possible? I am consumed by reading, just as I was as a child. Words and stories bring me all the feelings and I really enjoy that. I would just like to enjoy it a bit more responsibly, too bad I have no idea what that might actually look like.
What do you like to read? And do you think I will every break this habit of all fluff and no meat?