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I believe that the last time we had this topic I talked about my uncanny ability to look away from the screen just as something exciting happens in a show. It’s not something I ever do on purpose, I simply get a little bored sometimes depending on which show my spouse picked.
Let’s pick another answer this time.
Listening is another superpower of mine. I’m good at making people feel heard – so far as I’ve been told – and helping them to figure out what to do without actually ever giving advice.
Here’s the thing: most people don’t need advice in most cases in my experience, especially if they’re not directly asking for you to tell them what to do.
There are often factors outsiders aren’t aware of, or they’ve already tried X, Y, and Z without success and truly do not need yet another well-meaning but ultimately unhelpful person suggesting those options for the tenth time this week.
What they need is a sympathetic ear and someone to validate how difficult and frustrating life can be at times. If they feel heard, seen, and maybe even loved depending on how close I am to them, it can become much easier to try something new, pick themselves up and try again after disappointment, work on one of their flaws, or tackle whatever else it is they’re struggling with that can rarely if ever be fixed by an outsider.
It’s sort of like dancing in that I try to match their energy and glide into the rhythm of the conversation without pushing it into any particular direction.
They’re smart. They’ll figure it out on their own. 🙂
The one thing all of these books have in common are their memorable and scary villains. Thank goodness villains can’t go traipsing around to visit other books because we’d all be in trouble if these folks teamed up!
Since I’m such a huge mood reader, some books hang around on my TBR list for a very long time. Here are some of them:
Thank you to 
Most of my picks are in the nonfiction genre, but I did try to branch out a little to other options.
I was homeschooled for several years growing up, and we sometimes visited local museums as part of our education. Those early experiences taught me not only to love museums as well as learning in general. It’s exciting to be so close to paintings, pottery, or other items that are hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands, or even millions of years old. For a brief moment, it almost feels like stepping into a Time Machine and actually going to visit those places!
This is going to be a much longer list than the one I had a few weeks ago. I liked to loved most of the assigned reads in school, including:
Sometimes I have to include books I haven’t actually read in my answers to Top Ten Tuesday posts because those weekly topics cover things I have little to no experience reading about.
My answers to this question depend on why I’m not feeling well.
Mary Oliver is – or, rather, was – one of my favourite contemporary poets because of how beautifully she would described something as simple as a sunset or seeing a bird flying around in a field.
These topics are great distractions from something like a fever, a cough, or mild pain because they transport you to other times and places and teach you all sorts of interesting things about the world.
When I’m in a book slump, I immediately take a break from this hobby as even the slightest expectation of reading only prolongs and deepens those feelings for me.