The Next Great Read....

I need a good book; the kind I can’t put down. As a reader, I feel blessed to enter into different worlds, alternate dimensions, and parallel lives.  I flip the last page, close the cover, the tension subsides...release, I need the proverbial “cigarette.” I am finally satisfied.

This is the kind of “read” I need right now. I haven’t felt this way about a novel in a long time. I don’t want anything fancy, highly intellectual, or so thought provoking that it boggles my mind. I just want the story to matter to me, to feel tuned into the characters, descriptions, and feelings. Whether it’s fact, fiction, drama, history, comedy, romance, or tragedy -- it doesn’t matter, some of the the best novels have it all.

I have tried a few book clubs to get in touch with new and old treasures, but found them to be awkward and usually too serious. I was not an avid reader growing up, and did not learn the art of critiquing the compelling narrative. I don’t know much about stylistic invention, literary devices, artistic metier, appropriate pacing, plot tension, or protagonist conflict. I also do not want my very few nights out of the house to be in English class -- even if it includes a glass of wine.

I do appreciate lyrical writing though. One of my favorite stories belongs to Ernest Hemingway’s, The Sun Also Rises -- a collection of breathtaking moments in beautiful detail. If the prose of a story is too poetic, however, I have trouble connecting the dots. I am lost, and so is my interest. This is probably some sign that my scattered, multitasking, attention-seeking, instant gratifying, 21st century, media battered brain needs less screen time. Between the internet, smartphones, television, and two children who lovingly need my attention all the time: “mommy, will you play with me?” -- I can hardly find the time to read.  So when I can sneak in a five-minute story break, I want to be in love...to be maddenly engrossed by the tale.

Given that Fifty Shades of Grey is sweeping the nation as the most exciting “mommy porn” on the bestseller list, where do I turn for my next new adventure in literature? Any suggestions for the next “great” read? It’s not that I don’t appreciate a hot romance, I’m just too embarrassed to buy it, and I don’t have a “Kindle” to hide it in. (Anyone have a copy to spare? -- we can do a clandestine drop-off in the dark chocolate aisle at Whole Foods....) lol