Every winter when I was in college, majoring in English and minoring in
History, I spent vast amounts of time reading books. A typical week would be
3-4 novels with a couple hundred pages of history besides. There was one
notable semester that I rashly took Chaucer, Milton and Shakespeare all at
the same time plus an intensive course in Roman history and I emerged from
that period of time barely able to speak modern English. What I did to
regain my sanity over the summer was to read Harlequin romances.

For those of you who have never read a Harlequin, don’t despair. There is
only one plot. Single young woman meets glorious, available youngish man. He
generally has a cool name like Brent. They fall in love and marry without
ever touching each other beforehand. Not a kiss, a handshake, nothing. No
throbbing thighs or heaving bosoms. No wide eyed exclamations of intense
delight mingled with surprise. Not a ripped bodice in sight. Just plain old
romance stories with a hint of tingle to them.

Since then, whenever I am overwhelmed mentally, I reach for something like a
Harlequin. No thoughts necessary. No huge plots to follow. No meaning to be
delved into and shredded to bits. Just a story to occupy my mind while I try
to relax. That’s what these books have been for me this last month. Since
deciding to homeschool my daughter, I’ve been in a flurry of putting
together a coherent course outline for her that will address what I want her
to learn and not bore the poor child to death in the process. So I’ve been
reading, googling, looking at forums and generally brushing up. It’s
exhausting.

Plus, when my unemployment ran out in June, I dashed out and got a little
full-time job at a convenience store. And my boss can’t seem to get it thru
her brain that I want to go to part-time because she keeps scheduling me for
full-time hours. This all means I have no brain bandwidth left at the end
of the day to analyze what I’m reading.

So I’m sorry, you guys! I read these books over the last month or so but if
you asked me to delineate the plot of any particular one of them or present
a coherent thought on them, no can do. I do know they hold my attention
enough that I finished them when I can’t even follow the plot of a movie on
the TV. Maybe someday I’ll reread them and actually pay attention.