Books for Insomniacs

Books for Insomniacs

We all know the feeling.

That dry eyed, “I-wanna-rub-my-eyes-all-night-long” sensation. That “Why-is-my-pillow-not-soft-enough?” compliant. Those “Hell-what’s-so-interesting-about-my-ceiling-anyway?” nights where milk just won’t do and your mommy’s sleeping pills begin to look like the only way to 8 hours of sleep paradise.

Yup, it’s official.

You've got hit by some idiotic witch’s “Anti-Sleep Spell” or what Muggle doctors prefer to call as “Insomnia”.

Dear old Encarta Encyclopedia (version 2004 that is) states that:

Insomnia, (is a) condition in which a person has difficulty getting sufficient sleep. About 60 million people in the U.S. suffer from insomnia. It can be caused by an overactive thyroid gland, diabetes, violent muscle twitching, or drinking caffeine-containing beverages before going to bed, but experts estimate that in three-fourths of all cases the cause is a psychological one. After anxiety-producing events such as the death of a loved one or loss of a job, a person may experience sleep difficulties for a short period. Many persons recover their normal sleep rhythm spontaneously, but others become frustrated and depressed and develop chronic insomnia. Napping during the day may throw off the sleep pattern further

© 1993-2003 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

If you had trouble reading that it simply means that you should forget about sleeping all together and instead you should try watching reruns of Grey’s Anatomy instead from the comfort of your couch. It’s that or some other medical drama with lots of dramatic music like House. Just try to avoid watching those “reality shows” that’ll kill your brain cells. Remember your brain already has some trouble putting you to sleep. You don’t have to reciprocate by frying your neurons.

Of course Mommy’s sleeping pills can be a fine answer to shutting your brain down for 8 hours or so but I don’t really think you’d like to wake up with her standing over your bed and a nasty frown on her face. Trust me it’s a lot less painful to endure a sleepless night than waking up to a “little speech” if you get my gist.

Personally however when I find that the Sandman has forgotten to spread his little sleeping magic in my bedroom I turn to my trusty little friends: my books. Nothing like the sight of a thick, well-written book with a really good plot and amazingly made characters can relax my strained brain lobes and send me off to Z-Land (I did warn you that a geek was writing this, didn’t I?) in just a jiffy.

But however in some cases the book is just too darn good to put down and what happens is your insomnia becomes your best-friend since it’ll let you finish an entire 679 page book while everyone else is sleeping and when morning comes you’ll look like a complete zombie (but an intelligent, well-read one nevertheless).

So here goes my first post, and list.

I know present to you the books for insomniacs:

1.) “IT” by Stephen King

Fear 

Okay so it’s a horror story about a killer clown, but I must say it did put me to sleep (and a very vivid nightmare as well) after I read it. The opening chapter of the novel was hellishly scary to boot that my phobia for clowns has now been cemented deep into my psyche. But “IT” isn’t really just a horror story. It’s a story about the strength of friendship and how a single event can bind together very different people and call them once more into rising up to destroy something so evil that it made Bongo the Clown look psychotic once and for all.

Note:

Try to get a night light on as well after you’ve read the novel. I swear it helps.

This is one clown you don’t wanna mess with.

2.) “Fear Nothing” by Dean Koontz

Now here is a story that is so good it’ll keep you up all through the night. It’s a story about a man inflicted with a rare genetic disorder that prohibits him from ever seeing daylight and this very same disease (which is real by the way) will be the very thing that can help him survive one night that’ll change him forever. Mr. Koontz here has crafted what I think is one of his most memorable characters to date (the other being Odd who can see spirits and the other a dog called Einstein) in the persona of Chris Snow. He will enthrall you with his wit and humor while he recounts being chased by a troop of murderous monkeys (and there is nothing funny about that) and at the same time make you think about your place in the universe as well.

3.) “Dear John” by Nicholas Sparks

Okay first I’m a dude, a STRAIGHT dude, but I swear Sparks is so annoyingly good in writing those cheesy love stories that I’m considering buying his other works as well (except maybe The Last Song, if it’s cover design is that girl from Hanna Montana). It’s a poignant love story between this Army dude and this college girl and if you’ve seen the movie try to read the book just to see the difference. It’s a simple, it’s a beautiful, and it’s a sincerely powerful story of love that’ll make you think what love and happy endings truly mean.

4.) “The Graveyard Book” by Neil Gaiman

It’s a children’s novel yes but it is a children’s novel that’ll put most modern day writers to shame (ehem, ehem, sparkling vampires). This is the story of a boy raised in a cemetery with a mysterious guardian, a loving ghostly family and a terrible destiny that he must face one day. From start to finish, “The Graveyard Book” is one fine read and if it does make you stay up late all night, I assure you the eye bags will all be worth it. Plus the ending is, well, painful and poignant and if you have someone under the age of 20 in your house try to make him read the book. It’ll tell him what growing up really means.

5.) “The Deathly Hallows’ by J.K Rowling (My fictional mother)

No need for explanations here right? You did read my introduction to this whole blog thing didn’t you? Yeah, I thought so.

POTTER FREAKS RULE.

So next time the “anti-sleepies” wage war on you, just grab any of these titles and read away. When life gives you lemons ,make the best lemonade there is and then sell your lemonade at double the price.

Try to make that one out.