One of the things I most love about vacation is having time to read. Over the last few years, my tastes in reading material have expanded to include crime thrillers — the sort you might find on a dime store rack. And you know what? This English major isn’t ashamed at all.

Give me a Michael Connelly thriller, or a Jack Reacher novel by Lee Child, and I’m happy. Just recently I picked up “Pronto” by Elmore Leonard because I love how Timothy Olyphant portrays his cowboy hat-wearing marshal Raylan Givens on FX’s “Justified.” I have to say, it’s all pretty darned entertaining.

It’s nice to imagine that heroes like these exist. A defender of criminals and ideals of American justice who works out of his car. A vagabond ex-Army major who saves old ladies from the drug runners taking over her town. A charming good ol’ boy U.S. Marshal with the wits to change the outlook of many a bad guy — and a sure shot for those beyond saving.

I like the romanticism of these guys, the rush of their stories. And the fact that when they’re over, I can move on to something else without a second thought.