Friends and neighbors, I am in a reading rut. Granted, there is so much going on in my life right now that I can’t even put on music without feeling sensory overload-y, much less surrender my consciousness long enough to enjoy a story… but it feels wrong. Like I haven’t been exercising.

(Which is also somewhat true. Story for another day)

I went into the library today to do two things – return an overdue book (The Art of Fielding, which had JUST STARTED TO GET GOOD!!gaaahalejr23a2#$fs) and leave a stack of magazines in the “Take A Magazine” bin. However, once I entered, I decided that maybe I would just check to see if one book I was looking for was checked in. And then, maybe I would just look around at what was new and then find something that piqued my interest and then BAM out of my reading rut!

Of course, this is unlikely. I enjoy shopping for books – library or otherwise – in person, but I make bad decisions. It’s like grocery shopping when everything is on sale – I can’t eat more just because I bought more. Stuff goes bad, books return to the library unread. And so it goes.

Also, the boy was in the car, waiting for me to “drop off some magazines” while I plundered on through the stacks. I had to make quick, potentially terrible decisions.

Today, I walked out with

Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool. Because nothing says “Reading is Fun” than a Newbery Winner! Really, though – this might not be true for children, but maybe is true for me? I don’t know. Although I mostly picked it up because it is set in Kansas, a state I am quite fond of after living with a Kansanian for a span of time.

Beauty Queens by Libba Bray, which I have been meaning to read for a long time. At the ChLA conference, I listened to a compelling academic paper presentation comparing this book to Treasure Island, returning said book to my radar.

Recovery Road by Blake Nelson. I have only read one other Blake Nelson book – Prom Anonymous… which is probably the least well-known of Nelson’s books and I remember exactly zero things about it. While library browsing, I saw the Nelson name, remembered that I wanted to read his other books, remembered that I sometimes love books about drug addicts, and picked it up.

Who’s to say if I will actually finish any of these books? My life is not looking to settle down any time soon: maybe my brain won’t be able to finish a book until early November. However, I did start Recovery Road on my way to the RMV (second time this week omgkillmenow), and I was digging the short chapters. Maybe that’s what I’m in the mood for? Short chapters? Maybe I should have asked my librarians for recommendations, a little Reader’s Advisory Challege – “Look here, I can’t read a book, I’m under some stress, I need something with a lot of drugs and short chapters. Any recommendations?”

This has been yet another episode of Librarians Visit the Library…