Rambling Reader - Hi! Remember me? (And rediscovering the library)

Well, goodness. It's certainly been a while, hasn't it? I assure you my absence from this blog hasn't been intentional. Unfortunately the blog fell to the wayside as life became way too LIVE! AND IN 3D! for me. Between my own health, and school, reading has been a difficult task. The fact that reading seemed like a task in any way was rather heartbreaking to me, but I just couldn't settle down with a book. My escape from my head and the world was found in much more active pursuits like exercise, and being outdoors. I found I couldn't sit for long (or short) periods of time and get lost in a book as I have always been able to do in the past.I found that I was picking up a book and getting about 2 chapters in before I lost interest. Nothing was capturing my interest for long, and almost everything I was trying to read felt like I'd already read that story, but under a different title, from a different author. There's nothing worse than being burnt out on books. And right now, there's just so much repetition in the book world that it's difficult to rekindle your passion for reading when you've already read that story before. I gave up on most YA books because they were all blending into each other and it didn't feel like there was much substance between the covers. I am tired of all the same plot points and conflicts. I am tired of pining away for someone you've met for about 30 seconds, who treats you like crap. I am tired of love triangles, being THE MOST POWERFUL WHATEVER!!, and insta-love. I just want adventure, fun dialogue, entertainment.So I stopped buying books months ago. Why bother, when I wouldn't read them. It's a waste of money and space.And I began to read a lot more Middle Grade ("a lot" being a relative term) and, occasionally, non-fiction. I was reading slowly, and certainly not anywhere near my normal pace. I literally just hit 30 books read for the year this weekend. Normally I'm somewhere close to 100 by now. But I just haven't been able to focus on books. I have been on a bit of a roll this month because I have rediscovered my library.I have mentioned my displeasure with my local library many times before. Living in a French Province, it's difficult to find a decent selection of English-language books in your town's library. I let my library card expire years ago because I was tired of always being disappointed when I went to look for books. But something this summer made me look up the library hours online and I was delighted to find that they have updated their entire system and I was able to search for books online. I was extra delighted to find how many books they had in the library that I have on my wishlists. Not only did they have those books, but they actually had current releases in library, or already on order. Also, they have new hours (awesome ones, too) and so off I went with my husband to get a new library card. I've already read through a ton of books in the last 3 weeks.For most people, the excitement I am feeling over my library will probably seem odd. But they have really changed it up and have more stock for English readers and this makes me happy. Also, I can try a book guilt-free because I won't be spending money (that I don't have) on a book only to find that I am disinterested in it. If I think I would like it, but I just can't get into reading it now, I can always take it back out again. Whee! Saving money and space and mental anguish all in one go!Although I have picked up my reading pace this month, I still haven't been updating my blog. The time and energy I normally put into a post (editing the photos, etc) has been distributed elsewhere in my life these days. I do write quick thoughts on Goodreads when I finish a book, but I just can't seem to find any motivation to blog. I think about it as I fall asleep, but once I'm awake again, that moment is gone.I have read some excellent books this year though, out of the 30 I have managed to finish. I think I might write a small post on those I loved the most. That's on  my To Do List for the summer. Once school starts back up in September, I know I won't be reading leisurely anymore. I'm back in a torrid love affair with reading at the moment, but I'm pretty sure it's just a summer romance. It's nice to know my mental health is slowly healing itself and I am able to relax a little more. (Trauma is not a fun thing to experience. Just saying.)It's been a very rough year and a half and that's affected my reading state of mind more than I thought it would. I hope those of you who might read this post have had a better reading time than I have. I would love it if you could share with me the books you've loved recently. I'm looking for suggestions and I'll even consider books outside my comfort zone (well, some. Non-fiction? Historical?) What have you read lately that's knocked your socks off? Let me know!(In case you're curious about which books I have read this year, you can check out my list of Books Read in 2014.)