Unfortunately, my three sons and their schedules have kept me so busy the past few years -- OK, the past decade -- that I rarely have time to settle down with a good book.

Before kids, I relished reading at night before I fell asleep; after kids, I discovered I needed the sleep even more than I wanted to read.

I've attempted to remedy this by taking along books with me when I'm vacationing, so I can steal some time reading on the car ride or late nights in a hotel. The problem is that I usually only get through half the book before vacation is over.

Of course, I intend to finish it when I return home, but I don't because life gets busy again. About six months will go by, and then one day I'll glimpse the book on a shelf -- or, more likely, in a pile of stuff on the dining room table -- and I'll think to myself, "Oh yeah, I remember that book."

I don't even read magazines as much as I once did. I used to actually have subscriptions to several of them, but now the closest I get to them is at the grocery store check-out lane where I spend most of my time trying to distract the eager eyes of my nine-year-old son from the risqué headlines on the front of Cosmopolitan or Soap Opera Digest. Once seeing a headline I didn't want to attempt to explain to my son, I said to the cashier, "Ah, could I turn those magazines around so they face the other way?" It's either that or they'll have to open an adult-only lane right beside the 12 items or less lane.

I hate to admit it, but the only magazine I even read occasionally now is People. And when I say "occasionally," I mean at the hair salon or on a plane. Those are the two places I allow myself to revel in all the celebrity gossip and inside scoops on the goings-on in Hollywood. And yes, there have been times on the airplane I've noticed the condescending glances from the business men and women in suits reading Wall Street or Forbes. But quite simply, I don't care. People provides me with an escape from the hectic pace of my own life -- from dealing with three sons and my husband's business, working on my next book, and most recently dealing with school reassignments and transfers. We deserve that escape.

When I do read about Hollywood, I realize how totally out of touch I am. I don't recognize the names of most of the people.

Leighton Meester? Haven't a clue. Evidently she's on "The Gossip Girl."

Kate Walsh? Wasn't she the one in "Titanic"? Nope, that was Kate Winslet.

How do the Kardashians and Jon and Kate become stars? And who would possibly agree for their teenage son or daughter to appear on a TV reality show called, "16 and Pregnant"?

In a recent issue of People, there was a poll that asked the burning question, "Which NFL star would you date?" Seriously? Which one would you date, as if readers might actually turn down any one of them. Tom Brady won, and I was glad only because I recognized his name. But did anyone really think they had a shot at Tom or that his super-model girlfriend wouldn't be much competition? Of course not; it's pure escapism. And it's okay to indulge.

So let the people reading Forbes look down their noses at me.

Until I have time to read the novels that lie unfinished in my home, I will still be reading People. It will definitely be a while before "War and Peace" is on my nightstand.