Balancing Act

"Hi, um, could you please put me on the waiting list for a book?" I asked the librarian, continuing in a whisper, "'Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters' by Rick Riordan."

Yes, it's embarrassing, but true. I got sucked into yet another junior fiction series, borrowing the first book from my 12-year-old stepson's library. You may have seen the trailer for the Percy Jackson and the Olympians movie, "The Lightning Thief." It just came out in theaters, and no, I haven't seen it yet.

I tend to rotate between books that challenge me to the point that I want to bash my head against the wall — often in a good way!?! — and quick easy reads like "The Sea of Monsters," which I whipped through in an afternoon.

But balance is good, I suppose. Right now I'm attempting my first Salman Rushdie novel, "The Satanic Verses" — not what is sounds like! If I make it through this, I may be reduced to a year of Harlequin romance or some such drivel.