Booking Through Thursday

1. Do you read in bed? Forhow long? Do you fall asleep reading? Will a good book keep you up all night?
2. Where do you keep your nighttime reading? Do you have a special table next to the bed? Are there many books there? Do you keep books there that you aren’t reading (finished or unread)?

Every. Single. Night.

In fact, it’s more or less impossible for me to fall asleep without reading first, almost no matter how tired I am. It’s very rare for me to fall asleep while I’m reading, though it has happened once or twice.

If I don’t have to get up for something specific (like work) the next morning, I can read almost indefinitely–especially if it’s to finish a new book. The need to find out how the story ends works amazingly well as a non-sleep aid.

In fact, it’s for this very reason that I’m so careful about starting new books by favorite authors. I won’t let myself start them earlier than, say, Thursday in the week, because I just can’t face being a zombie at work for more than one day. If I stay up late on a Friday or Saturday, at least I can sleep in the next morning. But–to give you an idea? When I read Archangel the first time (which you know is one of my very favorite books) . . . I had picked it up at a bookstore on a Saturday morning. I brought it home, but had to finish whatever book I was reading at the time . . . which I did at about 12:00 that night. I figured, okay, I’ll just read the first chapter or so to get the new one started, and then I’ll go to sleep. I read the first chapter, read the first sentence of chapter two . . . and the next thing I knew it was 3:00 and I’d finished the entire book. Because it was that good, and because I so badly needed to know how it was going to end.

I always have books next to my bed, on top of the bookcase I use as a nightstand, and it’s exceedingly rare for there to be fewer than two books there. Three is more normal. I think the most “active” books I’ve ever had going at one time was 7. As a general rule, when I climb into bed, I take the entire pile of books and read one chapter/section out of each, usually starting with the bottom book. As I read each one, I put it back on the bookcase, and I always end with whatever novel I have going at the time, and finish out the night’s reading with that. If I’m particularly tired, or sick, or it’s a holiday, or just a day I want to “treat” myself, I’ll forego the “read every book” rule and just concentrate on fiction. Like, um, take this week . . . I haven’t read a single word in any of the non-fiction books next to my bed. I’m on vacation, you know!

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