Literary Junk Food

Recently I asked my friends on Facebook what snacks they buy at the gas station when they're on a road trip. I received an unprecedented response! A couple of principled people responded with "water" or "I hate snacks from the gas station." Most, however, gleefully admitted the various crap they ingest on such occasions, "edible food-like substances" as Michael Pollan describes them, that they normally do not allow themselves.

When I'm reading, I do the same thing. Being in 2 book clubs and reviewing books for a Christian magazine means that I am usually reading something that I expect will enlighten me or enrich my life in the process. Most of the time this leaves me happy and fulfilled. But every once in a while I get tired of reading useful and/or literary books. I want to read something just for the fun of it. Sometimes something truly crappy.

So, in the spirit of all of those who confessed their road trip preferences--cheesy popcorn, Sprees, Twizzlers, Reeses and mountains of soda--here are some of the books I've picked up for the pure guilty pleasure of some fun.

As a teen, I started out with sweet Christian romances like Janette Oke's Love Comes Softly, moved on to the First Love by Silhouette series, and moved with alarming speed into the less sweet, less sacred realm of romance novels for adults. My older, married sister was a great resource for this. But now, I like to think I've put that all behind me. After all, I still have a crystal clear memory of reading a Danielle Steel novel on a class trip, and having my friend Holly pick it up and do a random dramatic reading. The line she hit on? "She felt as though her insides were flying out her ears." Sorry, don't remember the context, but I can guess.

But I don't think I've gotten so far, really. Last year I picked up Twilight by Stephenie Meyer out of curiosity about all the press, and I was hooked. It isn't far off from some of the novels I read in high school. Lots of burning desire and longing gazes. Many people salute the books for having a teen couple who don't have sex until they're married. Since sex is just about all that occupies their minds, it's hard to take that too seriously. The writing is cliched, but the storyline is fun and satisfies all my inner teen's dreams of my misfit self being swept up by the most beautiful man in the world, who finds me utterly fascinating and protects me every moment. The fourth book is truly awful, and reading it diminished some of the fun of the preceding installments. And yes, I read them all.

Other things I read just for the fluff and nonnutritional value: The Nanny Diaries (so-so on the fun scale) and both Bridget Jones novels (the first is one of my all-time fluff favorites). My most recent venture into junk reading was (some of you may want to brace yourselves for the title) Good Christian Bitches by Kim Gatlin. This book takes place in a very wealthy part of Dallas, near where I spent middle school and high school years, and it is meant to be a fun skewering of mean-spirited "Christian" rich girls by a woman who appears to claim the same designation for herself. I couldn't resist, thinking that it would be fun to see a Christian writing some good-humored satire about her own circles. It fell flat--a poorly written story about mean-spirited people doing mean-spirited things, with no Christianity that I could recognize. So that one was the equivalent of Dutch licorice for me--looked like candy, had the texture of candy, but tasted like, well, crap.

There are some books that can be read just for the fun of it, but aren't just fluff. Off the top of my head I think of Grand Opening by Jon Hassler, A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson (especially if you skip over some of the more preachy environmental stuff) and Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns.

In the end, I find that a fluffy detour leaves me hungry for more satisfying fare. What is your literary junk food?