A response to 'light reading'

So a friend of mine recently got a bit defensive about reading the Twilight series. She argued, 'what's wrong with a bit of light reading?' I would respond by saying: there is nothing wrong with light reading; there is something wrong -for me- with bad reading. I have not read the Twilight series, and though i would really need to do so to properly debate it, i'm just not willing to lose those hours of my short life.
Since i have not read the Twilight books, but i did waste the time reading the Harry Potter books- yes all of them, at the insistence of several friends, i will instead refer to those.

Point # 1: Light reading does not need to be bad reading. Not every book needs to be Shakespeare, indeed. But compare Margaret Atwood to Rowling, i dare you. Who am i kidding, you can't compare them. Atwoods characters deeper, plots thicker, words, perfectly selected. Despite her literary prowess, Atwood's novels do not demand mental gymnastics. They will however, successfully pry you away from your stressful, monotonous daily life. And by the way, if Atwood isn't your style, how about Hunter S. Thompson? John Irving?

Point # 2: Not all books are better than TV or magazines, simply by virtue of being a book. The physics of being a book, doesn't make a thing any more worthy of existence than a magazine or tv show. I would argue there are a number of magazines and television channels that rival quite a few books. Magazines these days can be informative instead of simply vehicles for celebrity gossip. There are magazines explaining every 'how to' you can think of, magazines for cooking, for wine collecting, for parenting. There exist television channels like History or Discovery or Bio that can be informative- despite being watched instead of read. Provided you choose a respectable source, these can be handy reading/watching. I can't argue the same for W. C. Andrews.

After i say this, i should point out that i consider myself a bit of a book snob. My definition of snob in this case, is the same as applies to my food tastes. I'm not impressed by a restaurant serving food i feel that i could make myself. Likewise, if i think i could've written the book, it's not good enough for me to read. So that's it for now, i may come up with mroe brilliant arguments later, but you'll just have to wait.

10.31,12.25

You may think this is ridiculous, but i have a visceral reaction to certain months. just the thought of october makes me giddy. December damn near bowls me over. Some memories are that strong. Christmas and halloween have been my favorite holidays for as far back as i can remember, and they still are. I get thrilled in July that we're almost at October; i'm not even bothered that i just saw a commercial for a Christmas movie. Heck, it's Christmas after all. I'll even put up with Jim Carey for a little cinematic Christmas.

time to walk the dog...