Finished Off

Sleep has been rough lately. I have admittedly not been doing as well as I'd like at getting to bed at a decent hour or, consequently, get up at a decent hour (barring circumstances where I'm expected to be somewhere by others, which has not been a problem). Also problematic has been the time in between. I have been more restless than usual in sleep, struggling to stay asleep as long as I believe I need to be asleep.

I have as a result embarked upon numerous days lately with less than a full head of steam. I have also had episodes such as I did yesterday morning. I found myself vigorously tossing and turning at around four in the morning when I had hardly gotten to sleep by two and had intended to grant myself sleep until noon. It was evident that what I was doing was not restful, and so I might as well do something until I was again fit to rest.

On this very day I was set to return to the library "The Beautiful And Damned" by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I had not finished it, but I had cleverly reserved another copy of the same book in order to get around the fact that I could not renew the volume again. It occurred to me, at that moment unable to sleep, that I was not so very far from finishing the book, and maybe I could knock that book out in order to avoid the necessity of the subterfuge.

Indeed, I was successful at finishing the book. While I'd figured there was little of it left, there was in fact enough to occupy me for some two or more hours, and I found that it was after 7 by the time I was through. Furthermore, I have a habit of wanting to get going on my next book right away, and it so happened that the previous day one had been loaned to me. Books loaned by a friend are always a high priority to me.

This book is a "graphic novel" adapted from a personal favorite series of books, the Parker crime novels by Donald Westlake (in the guise of Richard Stark). I have like what I have read so far, and I expect I will dispense with the book soon enough to start on my next, whatever that proves to be. At the moment, nothing occurs to me, which is an unfortunately regular occurrence  It is always when I am far from starting a new book that books suggest themselves to me. Well, I'll come up with something.