What I'm Reading - Library Books

I am currently knee-deep in library books - one of the benefits of having some professional time behind me - I could get to the library in the morning on a weekday. So, I have ten books to read in the next month, and I am only 2/3 of the way finished with the first book. This is because it is a confusing Star Wars book that is taking more time than usual to read. I am enjoying it to the point of wanting to savor every word, so I am reading it in bits and pieces. I am going to take it with me to work today to read in my lunch period.

I enjoy going to the library and pulling books off the shelf at random. I have never held a book, but I want to because I found a good book by Anne Perry (the William Monk series), and I want to start from the start of the series. I will try that once I get through this stack of books. I usually just roam and pick things that feel interesting to me.

I am strictly a fiction type of reader. I don't like many nonfiction topics, but I will occasionally come across one. That usually happens when I get a mystery order from my local independent bookstore. Nonfiction books tend to be more emotional for me, so I do not go through that section of the library very often. All other areas, though, are fodder for my imagination, and I love every bit of the fiction section.

My library crawl starts with mystery, sci-fi, and romance fiction. Once I have made that loop, then I go into the general fiction section to grab more books. Then, I am ready to leave the library (even my library roams have a pattern and a plan behind them - I enjoy structure!).

Right now, I have two mysteries, two Star Wars books, and six general fiction books. These library books join my To Be Read (TBR) pile. I want to get through as many books in that pile as I can before the end of the year, but I will be limited by some traveling during my prime reading time - holiday breaks. So, library books are the priority since other people might want to read them.

I am not doing any music therapy related reading, but I want to do that more soon. I think five music therapy books for 2025 will be a manageable quest. I have plenty of music therapy books in my library, so I can be thrifty while working on this quest. First quest for my map for this next year! Five music therapy focused books to read for this next year.

Reading is the one thing that I have always done for leisure and relaxation. I am fortunate in that I am able to get books from my local library. I am fortunate that I can spend some of my budgeted entertainment monies on books when I want to do so. Books are not something that I want to give up totally, so I am always looking for ways to save on my budget. There are some books that I want to get brand-new, but there are many more that I am happy to shop second-hand or thrift shopping. For me, I want the book, and I am not very upset when I know that someone else has used the book before me - as long as they have treated the book well.

On a side note - I watch many people who cut up books for collages, for journal pages, and for crafts. I always get a pang when I see that, but I have three books that I am using for this purpose. The first is a Harry Potter book that got soaked in one of the many water incidents that I have lived through. I got a replacement and have cut the ruined covers off the text block. The second is a copy of Maeve Binchy's Circle of Friends that I have had for a long time and that has disintegrated. I found a new copy and am now using the loose pages for crafts. The last one is a very old book that I bought at a thrift store or picked up for free at a library giveaway. The book is on supervision, which is why I picked up the book to begin with, but it is in bad shape, so I am going to repurpose it as an ephemera holder or filofax type thingy. It's hard to explain. I love books and cringe when people cut them up.

But, if you are someone who likes to cut up books for artistic purposes, then I am happy for you! Keep on making things out of them all!

Just know that I would rather read them than cut them up.

Off to get my book on Darth Plageuis before heading to work. Gotta get gasoline, and I might get breakfast as well. See you soon.

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