A Good Book Will Ruin a Good Night’s Sleep

Needless to say, I suffer many a night without ample sleep because I can’t rest until I know the end of the story or the culprit. With bookshelves full of hardbacks and a Kindle with over a hundred books, I will be missing a lot of sleep. I have learned not to start a Daniel Silva book featuring Gabriel Allon if I have an early-morning appointment that requires me to be sharp and fully awake. Once I start, it is an all-nighter to finish it.

Books transport us beyond our daily lives, and sometimes the places they take us are more interesting and less painful than our real lives. When I went through a rough divorce, books helped me to keep my mind off the anger and disappointment that my future wasn’t what I dreamed it would be. For people who do not read, books may seem like a waste of time when people could be doing something productive.

It is productive to rest the mind and concentrate fully on a story. It can be healing, as books can serve as a wonderful distraction during times of difficulty. As a child who had no relationship with my parents, books taught me that parents are meant to love their children. Being a loner and never learning how to make friends, books kept me entertained for hours. Even today, I find myself drawn to fictional characters more than to real people. When a new Anne Hillerman book releases, I can’t wait to enter the world of my friends Joe Leaphorn, Jim Chee, and Bernadette Manuelito.

One of the worst things that can happen is for an author to stop writing about a character whom I have come to admire, such as Jacqueline Winspear’s Maisie Dobbs or Alison Golden’s Annabelle Dixon. I have the last book in the Peter Diamond series from Peter Lovesey, reluctant to read it, and let go of an old friend.

So, if you love a good night’s sleep and you can’t abide staying up until the early morning hours, then don’t start a good book. Books are notorious for keeping us up at night. Thank goodness for the miracle of the printing press. I would imagine that when stories were told by firelight, many kids were kept up all night, begging the storyteller to finish the story.

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