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Having finished my exegetical book on Orwell, I began my next daytime book: "36 Arguments for the Existence of God" by Rebecca Goldstein. It's a novel, but I put it in my 'serious' stack, the 'literature' shelf at GoodReads, because it did not look exactly like a page-turner. It's a bit serious in the way of fiction, I think.
But here is the thing, I am rather enjoying it. It is not a page-turner, and I am fairly over my enthusiasm for the God question, but I am thinking that this could work for my nighttime reading, that I could readily stretch myself a little and make it work. It would be nice to channel all my fiction into my bedtime reading, while keeping the days for the non-fiction. It would be a good division of labor.
However, although it would be nice to beef up the reading life, I am inclined to stick with the trash fiction for the nighttime - the detective stories, the Koontz and King stories, and, yes, the schoolgirl-in-distress stories, the quasi-porn novels. When I wake up at three o'clock in the morning, unable to fall back asleep, and I decide to pick up my nighttime book in order to burn off a little excess energy, I need something that is not challenging in the least for my befogged, zombie-like brain; I need a quick, straight drop into a fantasy world that I want to get lost inside of - a hot shot of heroin-fiction to get me through a tough time.
Nevertheless, I have to admit that it feels too sugary and hollow to be working two novels at the same time, even if one of them is somewhat more serious and requires a bit more attention. I will probably continue debating this issue for a while. It is the kind of problem I don't mind living with.
But here is the thing, I am rather enjoying it. It is not a page-turner, and I am fairly over my enthusiasm for the God question, but I am thinking that this could work for my nighttime reading, that I could readily stretch myself a little and make it work. It would be nice to channel all my fiction into my bedtime reading, while keeping the days for the non-fiction. It would be a good division of labor.
However, although it would be nice to beef up the reading life, I am inclined to stick with the trash fiction for the nighttime - the detective stories, the Koontz and King stories, and, yes, the schoolgirl-in-distress stories, the quasi-porn novels. When I wake up at three o'clock in the morning, unable to fall back asleep, and I decide to pick up my nighttime book in order to burn off a little excess energy, I need something that is not challenging in the least for my befogged, zombie-like brain; I need a quick, straight drop into a fantasy world that I want to get lost inside of - a hot shot of heroin-fiction to get me through a tough time.
Nevertheless, I have to admit that it feels too sugary and hollow to be working two novels at the same time, even if one of them is somewhat more serious and requires a bit more attention. I will probably continue debating this issue for a while. It is the kind of problem I don't mind living with.
