{"id":60,"date":"2013-05-28T18:40:00","date_gmt":"2013-05-28T18:40:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/originalorknot.com\/?p=60"},"modified":"2015-04-07T10:27:54","modified_gmt":"2015-04-07T15:27:54","slug":"summer-reading","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/originalorknot.com\/?p=60","title":{"rendered":"Summer reading"},"content":{"rendered":"

Okay, so I finished that light-and-breezy novel I mentioned. It was Enchanted, Inc.<\/a><\/i> by Shanna Swendon<\/a>, the first book in a whole series<\/a> (which is a plus in my book) (pun intended).<\/p>\n

I found that title by searching for, literally, “light and breezy reading.” I’m reacting badly to stress right now, enough so that I find myself resisting anything heavy, meaningful or thought provoking. (Including The Bible<\/i>, which a friend suggested. Nope. Comforting, yeah, but besides the fact that I’ve already read it \u2014 har!<\/i> \u2014 it also makes me think too much.) In fact, I’m even resisting my usual first-choice fiction, cozies<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Normally I love cozies. They’re what I reach for first when I want to read for pleasure (and some day I’ll tell you all the series [they’re usually series] I’ve enjoyed). But I realized a few months ago that I was avoiding even them because when the protagonist suddenly finds him- or herself in danger (which is what happens in cozies to get you emotionally invested in the outcome), I actually feel stressed enough to make it unpleasant.<\/p>\n

\"Little<\/a><\/div>\n

How’s that for nutty?<\/p>\n

Well, anyway, nutty or not, I was having to force myself to read for pleasure, which wasn’t working very well, when I realized that I needed something really<\/b> light and breezy. Hence, the search.<\/p>\n

Swendon’s reputation is for romance and chicklit, and I always considered myself as opposed to chicklit as I am to chick flicks.* <\/span>But the Enchanted<\/i> series \u2014 so far, at least \u2014 doesn’t have a lot of girly details, like what she’s wearing (yes, Stephanie Plum<\/a>, I’m talking to you**<\/span>) or how she feels<\/i> about him as she’s hoping<\/i> he’ll kiss her\u2026.There’s a romantic interest, and she talks some about her dating life, but it’s nothing intrusive.<\/p>\n

I’ve started the second in the series, Once Upon Stilettos<\/a>, and so far, so good.<\/p>\n

Incidentally, I downloaded both of them for the Nook app for iPad<\/a>. I didn’t think I would care much for it, and only got the first one in that format because it wasn’t available at my local Barnes & Noble and I wanted to read it right now<\/i>! I’ve found, though, that I really like it!<\/p>\n