Musing Monday...I Think, Therefore I...hmmmm...I Forget.

I enjoy a nice bit of musing, not too deep but not too shallow. Which is good because it ties in nicely to this week question from MizB at Should Be Reading

This week’s musing asks…

Do you prefer deep, intellectual, “meaty” books… or light, “fluffy” books? Why? Give us an example of your preferred type of book.

Once upon a time, in the way distant past, I could think pretty well, fairly deeply. I read and studied deep theological and philosophical works and since I had, I believe, a 4.0 grade point in my major, I guess I understood, at ;east to the professor's satisfaction. Plato and Aristotle, Maimonides and Aquinas, Kant and Hegel, yes, I read them all. I would consider them 'meaty'.
But do I read them now, curling up with a nice cozy copy of Kierkegaard?
No.
Could I? Maybe.
I don't know, and it is unlikely I will find out.

...meat.

Because meaty reading is work! Sometime hard work. It can make your brain spin.
And I don't really want to work too hard when I read.
To tell you the truth, I don't want too work to hard at anything.

I know the brain is not a muscle, but to a degree it acts sort of like one. If you exercise it, it gets sharper, easier to focus, stronger. My brain has not been to the gym in quite awhile and I don't want to hurt it by running over and trying to lift the big barbells.

..fluff

But, I don't enjoy fluff either. I refer not to the marshmallow product you can make sandwiches of, and about which I make no judgment, but to the lighter end of the reading spectrum. I hesitate to even define what qualifies as "fluffy", because one person's fluffy is another person's meaty.
I would just say that usually I like to read books that are a bit challenging and make me think..a bit. Not to dwell on the subject, but I think that it is one reason that I like mysteries. They are like little puzzles..but they give you the answer at the end. Usually.

I can't name any particularly meaty books I have read recently, or fluffy ones for that matter. Because I only read books right in the middle. OK, after a little thought, I think The Snow Globe, that I read recently , might be considered fluff, but it was a Christmas book and there is a Christmas fluff exception.
Everyone knows that. :-)
The fluff element is one reason that I have given up on a number of series. The stories don't grow, the characters don't grow, there is no challenge but a lot of fluffy repetition. I am not usually a fan of 'cozy' mysteries but like things a bit darker, more complicated. I like some humor in a book, but humor alone is not enough. I want some witty banter, some depth.

I want to think...just not too much please.

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