As bibliophiles, we’re often held to a higher standard when it comes to the novels we spend our time reading. Friends often assume that because I’m well read, and because I write, that I not only have good taste when it comes to the books I read, but also that I exercise that taste with every single book I read.
But the fact is, that like everyone else I like to unwind. Sometimes I like a book that isn’t challenging, has no deep meaning, no mysterious plot twists or characters that challenge my preconceptions.
But…I may not always carry that book quite as openly as most of the books I read.
So, tell me…what is your Dirty Little Reading Secret?
For me, I have an affinity for Star Wars novels. Specifically, the straight-to-paperback, starfighter-pilot-oriented series that have come out in recent years. The characters are one-dimensional, the plots are templates and the bad guys never quite die off. For me it’s the reading equivalent of television wrestling.
So…am I alone?
Today's Author 
No you’re not alone. When I slip into the literary equivalent of McDonalds, I slip big time: Women’s Magazines [‘My mother dated a pervert & rejected us’, celebrity rags [‘Cara leaves her London flat’], Vogue [shock horror] – 90% of it is all ads, but I like looking at the fashion. The next level: airport fiction like James Patterson novels.
Yes, I do that sometimes too. Right now I’ve decided to take a little reading break to reread the Harry Potter series. Shhh, don’t tell…
For awhile, it was completely trashy fluff – Anita Blake vampire hunter stuff (my apologies to Laurell K. Hamilton for calling it trashy). Lately, it’s just been all sorts of speculative fiction. I have to focus on classics and “literary fiction” in graduate studies, so I rarely read anything of value outside of that. Right now, it’s just about anything by Elizabeth Moon.
I didn’t think the Twilight books were the worst thing I ever read. There, I said it.
God no! I don’t care for Star Wars, but I adore a good makeover story in any medium. I guess Cinderella was my first makeover story. It goes downhill from there to Extreme Makeover, which is probably, sadly, a book as well as a trashy TV show.