Wishes

I just love a book by my all-time, rot-your-brain-with-romance author Jude Deveraux entitled 'Wishes'. Yep, my guilty secret is that I read popcorn novels while my college course exposed us to the filet mignon of the literary world. I read and reread 'Wishes' because among Deveraux's-ehem-novels, this is about the funniest take on the Cinderella story that I've come across.

Anyway, I thought about taking this up again as I came across a book by Deveraux from Book Sale that I still do not have. Believe me, in the height of my Deveraux-mania, I bought almost all of her books. This latest one is still sitting unfinished on the side table at my room, yet I have the urge to haul out 'Wishes' again.

What is it that makes a certain book very readable that you want to open the pages and go back to the beginning over and over?

In my teens, I have read and rearead Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Hound of the Baskervilles as well as other Sherlock Holmes mysteries, Robert Ludlum's Bourne series, and an Agatha Christie short stories compilation. Then I discovered escapist lit and delved with gusto into Roald Dahl's stories for young adults, Choose Your Own Adventure-type books, and of course, romance novels from Deveraux. Unfortunately, you see from the trend that my taste is deteriorating, with my current reading materials of choice down to fashion magazines and the occassional bestseller with little literary value like J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series. For the latter, I read Books 4 and 5 around ten times -- a modest estimate at that.

I won't theorize about why these types of books get read and reread often but I am grateful for the entertainment. I fear that with the influence of TV, I am in danger of turning into a couch potato of the worst kind. I had a brief flash of myself in a hotel room in Bangkok two years ago, flipping the channels to look for something to watch, and settling for a local soap without dubbing or English translation. Aargh!