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Day 56 - A Good Book

Have you ever gotten lost in a good book?

Ok, if I'm honest, I think most of the books I read are good books. But that's mostly because I choose to read books I think I'll like. This system is really working for me.

I don't actually remember when I started the book. I think it was this past weekend, and I just wrapped it up about half an hour ago. A fun little chick lit book. A friends-to-lovers vibe. Magic without JK Rowling being involved.

You know. Quality.

A few months ago, I was talking to my grandmother about books. My husband had finished redoing my office for me and I had new shelves that required filling up. I was showing my grandma what progress I'd already made towards that goal, and she seemed pleasantly surprised that not only did her oldest granddaughter seem to be an avid reader, but that it was hard copies. It's like she could smell the books through the picture I showed her.

In reality, I wouldn't call myself an "avid" reader. I have friends that do 50, 60, 70+ books each year! My goal is a measly 16 this year. I read 15 last year, so I figured adding 1 was a reasonable increase. That said, depending on the study you read, something like 17% of Americans don't read even a single book in a year, and the average can be between 4 and 12 books for those that do. So if reading books at all qualifies for "avid," then add it to my resumé.

I digress.

So I'm showing grandma my impressive book collection of chick lit that I'll never get through, and she tells me what she's been reading lately. Apparently our love of physical books is where our similarities end, however, because she tells me how she's on her 8th Elie Wiesel book.

Eighth.

She told me that she found his book Night around the house while she was cleaning. She assumes it belonged to one of her children, which seems unlikely considering how studious I knew them all to be - they would have never left behind a book! (I'm kidding. That sentence is dripping in sarcasm. Smart, they are. Studious, they were not.) Given the ages of her kids, and what I know about the curriculum in my home district, I suspect it is actually one of my cousin's books, but the world may never know for sure.

So, she read Night, loved it, went to Barnes and Noble, and discovered it is part of a trilogy. So she bought and read the others.

Then she found out he wrote other books. Like, 33 other books (don't quote me on that). So now she's reading those.

Sorry, grandma, but something tells me my reads this year of The Fall Risk, Worst in Show, and The Enchanted Greenhouse aren't going to be as intellectually challenging as whatever Elie Wiesel is next on your list.

I told her that day that I want my escapism to be predictable. I want to know they get their happily-ever-after. I want fun little meet-cutes and grand gestures and everything working out.

Real life is hard enough. Stressful enough. Depressing enough. I don't need that when I read.

So today, all I did was get lost in a good book.

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