Well-Rested and Well-Read

Some might dispute the well-read part since I tend to favor mysteries and not classics. The mystery is such a popular genre and there are so many to choose from that I've even narrowed it down to female authors whose stories are set in the U.S. and feature female protagonists. I do vary from that pattern sometimes. For example, I like to read books by Carl Hiaasen and the late Dick Francis. And once in a while I slip a classic in there.

I read every night before I go to sleep. Since I'm not working right now, I get most of what I need to do done during the day. By 9:00 (sometimes earlier) I'm in bed, propped up with pillows and reading until my eyes get tired. Usually I have no specific time I have to get up in the morning, but I'm generally up by 7:00. This is such a luxury. For the last 5 years I've been getting up somewhere between 5:15 and 5:30.

When in need of a new read, I generally go to the library's New Book Shelf and look for the mystery sticker on the book spine. Since June 30, I've been reading about 3 or 4 books a week. So I've started looking for mystery stickers in the regular collection, too, and have discovered a couple of new (to me) authors that I really like.

I read Deborah Crombie's latest book, Necessary as Blood, and liked it so much I checked out another by her, Where Memories Lie. The setting is London and I don't always understand the vernacular English, but the characters are well developed and interesting as are the plots.

The book I just finished is Judas Child by Carol O'Connell. This was a thriller I had a hard time putting down. Shortly after starting it, I woke up in the middle of the night and was compelled to keep reading it - for 4 hours. I was scheduled to work at Springfield City Library the next day and didn't have the option of sleeping past 7. Given my experience with this particular volume, maybe I'm not always as well-rested as I thought.