A word (or two) on escaping daily craziness

I am currently reading Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides. Although I usually eschew picks that Oprah makes for her book club, I had read about this book before she picked it and it piqued my interest. If you want to accuse me of something, feel free to do so now. It is a novel, and has historical bit and pieces. Perfect combination.

The main character experiences a fellow classmate dying from an aneurysm in the middle of the school play and her crush runs into her arms. She said in the midst of the terrifying ordeal, that she had never been happier because "The Object" was in her arms.

The last book I finished also had a similar vibe in how the main character needed and hung on to goodness in bleak circumstances.

...people universally tend to think that happiness is a stroke of luck, something that will maybe descend upon you like fine weather if you're fortunate enough. But that's not how happiness works. Happiness is the consequence of personal effort. You fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it, and sometimes even travel around the world looking for it. You have to participate relentlessly in the manifestations of your own blessings. And once you have achieved a state of happiness, you must never become lax about maintaining it.

--From Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat, Love, Pray

The character in that book is going through a really ugly divorce. Reading is one of things that I can do to stay sane. I read books, magazines, the Northeaster (a local newspaper), love the NY Times, once in a while, on a really bad day, I pick up an US Weekly, for pure brainless entertainment. I seldom get more than a few pages during the day, but at night, suddenly, I remember: the book on my nightstand or the half-read Allure that sits on my pillow, and I try to get to it as soon as possible. I do my night time stuff, settle in our cozy bedroom, and let go into a world that varies from new lip gloss and fashion stakeouts to a lovely coming-of-age story involving a gender-identified young woman that also includes historical references to the Detroit race-riots and the Turkish attacks on Greece. How's that for variety?

And sanity for me right now, today, is anything that does not include two small boys for a couple of hours.