Guilty secrets time

This is so embarrassing, but I am currently reading book 5 of Earth's Children. Yes, that's right -- Ayla and Jondalar and The Clan of the Cave Bear continue ad nauseum. But this post is not about that. Mostly because there's not a lot to talk about there. Yes, Ayla invents a new tool on every page (I'm expecting the thermos bottle any chapter now) and yes, she still enjoys Pleasures often and gloriously, but still -- it's all pretty superficial.

No, what I'm interested in is why we do this -- why are these lousy books so compelling? Why do we read bodice rippers or gratuitous gorefests or books so scary we can't sleep at night? There are so many great books, some of which fulfill all those criteria but which also give the reader lots to think about.

Why do I re-read my favorite teen novels (Izzy, Willy-Nilly, I'm talking about you) so many times that I have great chunks memorized? What is so appeallng about reading something that you don't have to think about? Maybe that's it? But I do still think about them, like all the time -- but the thoughts are all so silly!

Somebody called them "popcorn books" and that's it -- filling with no nutritional value. I'd be interested in your thoughts (or the titles you can't respect yourself for finishing).