Ms. Anderson's ATM

Have you ever been in a reading rut? I felt like that all last week. I never found myself excited about sitting down and reading. In fact, it felt like I was staying busy doing little tasks just to avoid engaging in a book! I know...it's a nightmare!

I typically address this feeling in two ways: embrace it and know it will pass or try reading something completely new in order to spark my reading enthusiasm. I'll be honest, this past week I did a combination. First I relaxed about it and just stayed busy (painting our doors, doing yoga, playing with my dog, organizing my jewelry....). And then I decided to change up my reading habit. I chose two entirely different books to spark my interest. And it worked! Here are the titles I'm talking about:

OMG this was so fascinating. Nefertiti: The Spidernaut is a non-fiction book about an actual spider that was sent into space and lived for a while on the international space station. Isn't that crazy? I even found a video!

This was the perfect book to get me excited about reading. The question for me was, what would I read next that would get me into a new habit?

Doodleville is adorable. Adorable I tell you! It's a comic so I thought it would be the perfect format for escape and engagement, and I was right. It's about a girl that creates these Doodles that come to life, engage with other art, and generally cause mischief. It is a quick read and perfect for helping renew my reading endurance. I'm excited to get it processed and into the hands of one of my JMS readers!

And then there was Seventh Voyage....

So, I love Jon Muth. He wrote and illustrated one of my very favorite picture books, Zen Shorts. So I was filled with anticipation at the idea of a Jon Muth graphic novel. And I'll be honest. It's probably a good thing I chose this after Doodleville because if I had read this one first my reading rut might have lasted a bit longer. And it's not because the illustrations or story isn't good. It just isn't my favorite science fiction tale ever. But give it a go and we can talk about it after.

Song for a Whale is a beautiful story and really the reason that I was frustrated with my reading rut. I started it (and was very excited) and then got distracted and waited too long to pick it up again. The lag between readings left me less enthusiastic and I knew I needed to get reading soon or risk having the gap permanently impact my overall feelings of the story. But I'm happy to say my strategies worked! I'm nearly done now and just can't wait to see if Iris gets to meet her beloved whale! Check out this video about a whale similar to Blue 55.

As luck would have it, I also started a new audio book this weekend. And I am so engaged! The last book I listened to, Chasing Jack the Ripper, was great but it seemed to take a while to get into and then lasted just a bit too long. But Picture Us in the Light is already amazing. I love the narrator and the story has me hooked. What are the secrets involving Danny's family? And what happened with his friends that have left them so traumatized? I literally can't wait to find out!

And that's it for now. I hope you find your own happy reading place this week!

Ms. Anderson