Sometimes people (and by people, I might mean myself) worry that their children are reading ‘below their level’.

Why is she reading something so easy?

Why is she re-reading?

Why isn’t she challenging herself?

Last week, I had gum surgery to repair my poor receding gums. For the past few days, I’ve been in a bit of pain and in a lot of hunger. Believe it or not, a diet of ice cream can get old. But I digress.

During these past few days, I have craved comfort reading in the same way that I am craving comfort food.

Is a Shakespearean play on my reading level? Probably. Is that what I have chosen to read. Certainly not.

I read Stay Close by Harlan Coben. A book that some might say is way below my reading level. A book that did not challenge my reading skills.

And in doing so, I read a page turner. A book that kept me up way too late last night because I just had to know what happened. A book that makes me want to read another Harlan Coben book. A book that makes me want to keep on reading.

I will remind myself of this book the next time I sigh while watching Caroline read an easy book and remind myself that she is reading.

She is reading and that’s what counts.