"Are There Books, Are There Novels By Her Bed?"

The title of this post is a line from a Natalie Merchant song entitled Jealousy: "Is she bright, so well read? Are there books, are there novels by her bed?"

We have a stack of books on both sides of our bed as well as on many other surfaces scattered throughout our home. I'm not claiming to be bright or well read, but that line always makes me think of me and my girl.

While we were on vacation I finished the second book in a series I've been reading, Tales of the Otori. Not an absorbing read, but entertaining nonetheless. It is written in a rather sparse style with unique characters. Book II ends with all the signs pointing toward war. I needed to know the outcome!

When we got home, I looked for where I had put the third in the series. I even looked carefully, which is, I must admit, not my typical approach when looking for something.

Usually I begin by saying, "Hey Wen, have you seen such-and-such anywhere?"

She'll reply by saying, "Have you looked for it yet?"

Yeah, she has my number.

This time, however, I looked all on my own. I thoroughly scanned all bookshelves, I looked through the stack by the side of my bed, I checked the piles of "things" in our office. I even looked where I knew it wasn't, just in case. No Book III. Damn. Where did I put it? I picked up another book to read instead but kept a sharp eye open for the other. It had to turn up somewhere.

In my clumsiness last night, I knocked over the stack of books on my nightstand. The books slithered and slid, some crashing to the floor, others caught by my outstretched hands. And voila! The top book left on my nightstand stack was the one I'd been looking for! I could have sworn I looked carefully there before. Perhaps I should examine my definition of "careful."

Anyone else have stacks of books by their bed?
What's the last book you finished and was it worth reading?

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