Books in bed

I've been reading Jonathan Franzen's essay collection, How to be Alone, which is appropriate since I'm alone most of this break (no, this isn't a cry for help; I'm perfectly happy, thank you). One of the essays is titled "Books in Bed," and although it's really a funny piece on sex books, the title made me think of the books that are literally on my bed.

Since the husband person is 9000 miles away, I fill up the other side of the bed with an extra set of pillows, Bou the baby-mouse (from Spirited Away), a baby Eeyore (gift from my mother), and five books that I'm reading at the same time (I pick a different one for each night - my...hmm...sleeping partners?). They are:

1. The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
2. Changing Planes by Ursula K. Le Guin
3. Very Far Away From Anywhere Else by Ursula K. Le Guin
4. Gifts of Unknown Things by Lyall Watson
5. The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell

No. 1 is a funny sci-fi classic, and it's being made into a movie. If Neil Gaiman endorses a book, I'm pretty sure it's good.
No. 2 is a funny sci-fi exploration of the various planes (as in dimensions) that one can access while waiting in airports for delayed planes (as in flying machines).
No. 3 is actually a book for young adults, but it's got a lovely message about two people who are different from other kids in school and choose to stay on the course they've determined for themselves. The boy discovers he wants to be a scientist; and the girl, who plays both the viola and the violin, is preparing to study music at college, but really wants to be a composer. (The two kids actually remind me of Diane Lane and Thelonius Bernard in A Little Romance, who vow to never be ordinary.)
No. 4 - strange and wonderful things happen in a remote island in Indonesia.
No. 5 - trends and other phenomena in contemporary culture.

I realize I don't really have a point in writing this entry, but I thought it was a nice thing to write about - the books that are my bedtime companions. Oh, and Franzen's book isn't part of the bed collection, it's on my desk - something I read when I tire of looking at the computer.

Posted by Monoceros at December 27, 2004 12:23 PM