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Notes on Reading Light Novels

by avid reader Cath Stockbridge

Mystery and crime books have a devoted following. Count me in! And such books are always on hand for leisure-time reading at my house.

For additional essays on novels, click here (more recently written), here, and also here.

These links feature reviews in essay format, plus information on specific books. Not included are books in the list format mentioned next.

For accumulated recommendations in list format, click here.

This link features details on specific books, with a brief comment or two. Not included are books discussed in the essays.

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    About the mysteries reviewed on these pages:  whether they be police procedural or amateur investigation, whether gruesome or quiet, whether convoluted in plot or an "easy read," these stories and the many like them that are published every year, provide entertainment and ideas for many, many people. So, don't pass up the "Mystery" section in the local bookstore next time you visit!

Need more incentive to seek out light novels? Here you go...

Mysteries, thrillers, suspense, spy novels, and other light reading serve as entertainment and relaxation for many people, especially vacationers and weekenders. Fiction takes us away from workaday reality but allows our minds to contemplate other lives and attitudes and possibilities. Such a pastime is easy, safe, cheap, occasionally educational, and not all that time-consuming. Happy reading, everyone!

And here are some more thoughts on the topic of reading novels...

Okay, so maybe these remarks are "over the top" shall we say (politely please). But here's the thing--reading fiction works ! It's relaxing, meditative, anti-depressive, thought-provoking and idea-generating, attitude-adjusting, persepective-resetting, and, last but far from least, fun!
So, perhaps you've got big problems, even really big and really real ones. Gather a pile of so-called "good reads" and start on Chapter One. Pretty soon, or maybe in a matter of days or weeks, you'll find you can cope with at least some of the problems, maybe the smaller ones and maybe even the medium-sized ones. Because (maybe) your brain is working on other people's fictional troubles and even enjoying them or judging them, comparing daydreams and real life. And that's a start to dealing with problems in your own, quite too real, life.
Best-seller lists and book recommendations set out in library displays are places to start if you find big-box bookstores too intimidating. But those stores and smaller booksellers too are always ready with suggestions for customers willing to talk to knowledgeable sales people.
The great things about mysteries are the clues, the character insights, the subcultures, the reasoning necessary to figure out puzzling cases. But other genres have interesting rewards for their readers too. Biographies can also provide amazing insights into how to adjust your life to find happiness, if not success and wealth and fame, or any of the usual reasons for publishing biographies. How others cope is almost always entertaining if not thoroughly enlightening.

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