Wednesday - What I'm Reading

What I’m Reading: A picture of a hot cup of cocoa on top of three books. Under the graphic, the title, “What I’m Reading” is followed by smaller type that displays the URL, www.musictherapyworks.com. The last line of text reads “a new weekly series.”
It's Wednesday of this Spring Forward week, and it has hit me hard. I was okay the first three days of this week, but today I was struggling to open my eyes and find any sort of enthusiasm about leaving my bed. It doesn't help that this is the week before break, I still have a 12 hour day tomorrow, and a day of professional development with arthritic knees and spine ahead of me. Everything is just seeming more and more difficult to navigate - and it is all stress that I put on myself!!

So, to distract me from all the senses of stress and doom that I am feeling due to my timing and need to get things organized that will not be organized no matter what, here is what I've been reading lately. 

I turned in my last batch of library books on Sunday, so I am tackling my To Be Read pile.

I bought BIG books this last time. There is a Jane Austen omnibus waiting for me to bite the bullet and dive back into the world of Victorian romance and courtship. That is not my favorite world to inhabit, but I thought it might be a place to go back and visit. We will see. I am now immersed in Victorian murder mysteries in the world of Anne Perry. I like these books, so I bought the first three in yet another omnibus. That's the one that I selected for this week.

I will be going back to the library on Monday to get my next round of library books. One of the books that I got from Thriftbooks.com was a former library book. There is just something about the feel of a library book that cannot be replicated by any other book format. I feel a bit guilty with this book on my shelves, but I bought it. I says that it was discarded, so there you go!

Ooh boy. I have a book by Oliver Sacks on my table as well as some Nancy Drew mysteries (I have loved those for such a long time!!). There are many books waiting for the time that I cannot get to the library on a weekday. Books are something I cannot live without. Even when I was struggling to pay for everything, I would find ways to get books. For some reason, I stopped reading as much when COVID hit. That would have been the perfect time to read more and more, but I stopped. When I moved to my house three years ago, I remembered that I love reading, so I started reading again. I started with a goal to read 150 books in 6 months, and I did it. I then moved away from Goodreads because it felt too much like an assignment rather than a self-care practice. I now read what I read when I read it, and I don't care about the numbers. I just want to read.

Reading has always been my self-care practice. I started reading when I was 2 years old. It drove my mother crazy to have me read over her shoulder, but my teachers in preschool helped her navigate how to help me learn. I never learned to read, I just did it.

So, books have been my way to be involved in something away from myself for my entire life. One of the traditions that we had when I was in elementary and junior high was a night at the mall. We would roam the local mall and go to B. Daltons or Walden books. Dad would buy us each a book. I loved those times. I loved the agony of having to decide which book I would get. I bought hardback copies of the Anne of Green Gables series during those trips. I would get my Nancy Drew books during those trips. My father bought me my first music therapy book - we had to special order it for my 16th birthday, but he supported that.

My mother is a reader. My dad was less of a reader than mom, but he read as well. His preferences were Clive Cussler and Tom Clancy. I enjoy those books mainly because he loved those books. He gave me many of his older books when I moved. Books have always been a demonstration of love for me. In the four years since he died, I have been able to remember how many times he supported my reading and fed that appetite. I miss my dad every day.

This is rapidly becoming a grief post rather than a reading post.

I am fortunate that my parents supported my need to read. I was allowed to roam the entire library as soon as I asked if I could. I don't remember much pushback from the librarians, but I am sure there was some directed towards me and my mother when I started. Once I was interested, my mom helped me read what I wanted to read. I always felt a bit like I was trespassing in the main fiction section, but I also enjoyed being able to read more contemporary adult fiction. I was encouraged to talk about things that confused me with the adults in my life. It was exhilarating.

The world of my local library is one that I am not as comfortable with as I was with my old library, but I am striving to get involved a bit more. I will be attending a lecture about what works for musicians and creatives at the end of this month. I want to attend more of these community lectures. There is a mystery book club that I am thinking about trying out. I would love my reading to become the center of my social interactions outside of my house. Well, except for crafting. That is another center that I am considering - papercrafting again.

Well, this is a bit about what I am reading on this Wednesday. Who knows what will happen next Wednesday? Not me!! I will be on break...

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