In the words of master reader Bunnyman,

"Time to take Koontz off"

He ends that statement "for my nightly read" while I am going to end it

"from my nightly read".

Don't get me wrong.  I'm not giving up reading Odd Thomas.  I'm enjoying it far too much for that.  However it seems that my fairy nature is too insubstantial to stand up to the creepy presences that Odd Thomas and no other living person sees slink among us.  I say no other living person because the one person who had seen them--a six-year old--was nearly immediately crushed to death.  I know scads of six year olds, hippity-hoppity live ones and thinking about that one fictional one and the bodachs he too could see and the fate he suffered woke me up in the middle of the night, feeling anxious and not immediately able to identify why.  A half hour or so later the reason identified itself, but I still couldn't sleep.

So Odd Thomas and I will keep company earlier in the day and I'll enjoy other bedtime entertainment:  one night Bryson's Made in America, another Nick Hornby's Songbook, a gift from my daughter.   Eventually I hope to work up enough courage to be able to again sleep with the lights OFF.

Enough of a sabbatical!  It's time to get the books out and get lost in them instead of in less rewarding activities.  Whether I'm talking about dusting or shopping can be a little riddle to work on while you pour yourself some coffee and stick a pillow on top of the telephone.  If it rings, you don't want to hear it--it's there for your convenience, not to interrupt its master (you) while you attend to important matters.

The important matter that calls me today is "Odd Thomas" by Dean Koontz.  I've been told it's a great read by someone whose writing makes me keep one space empty on the shelves, hoping he'll really write that book he promised me.

Ready to relax?  Good.  Let's get started.

Tonight I'm visiting a library far from my home library. 

And I was welcomed here as if it were my own library, and I've been smiled at and given a computer to work at as if I actually helped pay for the building, the books, the computer, and the staff payroll.  I love libraries!  No place else really belongs to everyone.

Yes, you'll notice that "Ten Big Ones" made it onto the "Books I've Finished This Summer" list long before "Empire" will.

The reason is that I laughed out loud while reading "Ten Big Ones", while I feel intellectual when I read "Empire".  Now I have to find another Rest and Relaxation book to break up those "Empire" sessions.  It won't be the other book someone has asked me to read, "Smile", which I've also started, but am finding tedious.   It amazes me that anyone could hang such an irritatingly pompous book on such a pleasant name.

Oh, yes--I need an R & R book, and I need it fast!  Tomorrow the search begins.

Why it took so long to read "About a Boy" is difficult to understand.

It has all the makings of a quick read--interesting story, endearing characters, a good lively pace.  It's well written, and even had the unusual aid offered by its being the basis of a movie I enjoy enough to have had it on almost perpetual loop in a VCR. (We bookish types often are slow to switch to new technology and I still prefer my VCR to the DVD player.)

Some reason for the plodding progress through the book might be found in how busy I've been this summer, but I've had time for some nice satisfying reading sessions too.  As I think of it, I can remember those days.  Sitting down with the book, opening it to where I thought I might have been when I put it down last, and starting to read.  Bookmarks are clutter as far as I'm concerned and I rely on memory to tell me where to start reading again.  And I'd start reading and think, "Oh yes!  I've read this before;  I like this part." and I'd re-read it, enjoying it again.

And that contributed to the length of time I've taken to read the book.  I've probably read most of it about four times.

But I've finished it finally, and again I'm leaving a book with some regret.  I've had a very good time reading it.  And it's time to take stock of my goals and set off into a new book.

Having had the goals of reading regularly this summer and reading a variety of books, I can see it's time to leave the fiction section.  I hate to do it--Fiction is Fun!!! as we library faeries are fond of chirping.  But it's important to have a well-balanced diet in reading as it is in nutrition so I've picked a thick serious volume for my next choice.  "Empire" by Niall Ferguson is being read on the recommendation of a friend.  It's going to be a challenge and I've decided to employ that tool I usually disdain--a bookmark--to help me to progress.  And I've decided I'll need some rest stops too, on this trek through "Empire", so I've got Janet Evanovich's "Eleven on Top" to relax with on rest stops.

And off I go.