How do you get over a reading slump? Last week I mentioned on Twitter that I was in a reading slump and asked how people got over their book doldrums.
Since I still have a relatively small following on Twitter I don’t usually get flooded with responses. But I was pleasantly surprised when a lots of people chimed in with suggestions. I guess no one likes a reading slump! LOL.
And when I say I was in a reading slump, I’m not kidding. I started the year reading at a great pace. BIn fact, by mid-January I was FIVE books ahead of schedule towards my reading goal of 50 books read in 2020. But then I hit my slump and a month later I was ONE book BEHIND schedule. Yikes. Meanwhile, the books on my To-Be-Read List were glaring at me from their lonely corner.
So today’s I’m going share a few of the suggestions that were recommended to me in case you ever find yourself stuck in a reading rut. (p.s I’m totally over my slump now!)
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Read something short, like a short story, a novella or a graphic novel
I have to admit – whenever I pick up a new book, I peek at the page numbers to estimate how long it will take me to finish. A large book won’t intimidate me into giving it a pass, but sometimes I just want something that I can finish in a day or two.
The suggestion to read something short to jump-start your reading again is a great idea.
You could pick up an anthology of short stories in your favourite genre or by your favourite author or try a graphic novel.
Last year I spent a few weeks reading nothing but the Rivers of London graphic novels. I had collected them but never had a chance to read them yet and it was *fantastic*. I don’t normally read graphic novels so it was a nice, visual change. I’m definitely going to try to read graphic novels this year – anyone have any suggestions?
Action at a Distance is the most recent addition to the Rivers of London graphic novel series by Ben Aaronovitch
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Re-read a favourite book you love
Sometimes you just need a small reminder of why you fell in love with reading in the first place.
While I didn’t follow this advice this time, I do plan on re-reading my favourite book sometime soon.
Every so often (around once every two years) I re-read one of my favourite books – The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. Yes, I’m one of those people that LOVES this book. I’ve been told people either Love it or Hate it and I am a proud red-scarf-wearing Rêveur.
No matter how many times I read this story, every time I pick it up I find something new to fall in love. I definitely know that re-reading this book would make me break out of any reading slump. This book definitely reminds me of how beautiful and inspiring reading can be.
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
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Try an audiobook
I have never been able to get into audiobooks but I really wish I could! Don’t get me wrong, I love the idea of them – I get to listen while someone reads me a book? Yes please! And it leaves my hands free to do other things (I love to multi-task). Plus I know many of them are executed extremely well. I just… I just don’t think I’m built for them.
I’ve worked in some really noisy places, with lots of chatter and open spaces, so I have become VERY good at tuning out people talking. Maybe too good? Now I work from home and I like to have background noise on. I usually have the TV on and again, I tune it out. So whenever I listen to an an audiobook, I start tuning out, especially if I start doing something else. I just don’t seem to be able to retain anything I hear in this format! I wish I could manage audiobooks because I would be SO productive!
When I mentioned my issue someone suggested I try an audiobook of something I’ve already read (and enjoyed). The story will be familiar enough that I’m not stressed about retaining every word and I can get used to the act of listening to an audiobook.
So I’ve picked up one of my favourite children’s books, The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster, to give it a try. The narrator is Rainn Wilson (Dwight from the US version of The Office) so it should be a real hoot!
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Take a break and watch some TV or a movie
Watching TV might have contributed to my lack of book-reading this past month.
The new season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars came out on February 21, so my husband and I decided to re-watch Seasons 1-6 before the new season so we could remind ourselves of what had happened. The problem is that we only thought of doing this in late January, so we had A LOT of TV to watch. It was a lot of fun, but it also seriously cut into my reading time.
But it worked because I was ready to pick up a book again after our massive binge (by the way, totally worth it).
Once I finished my Clone Wars re-watch, I dived right into Ben Aaronovitch’s False Value. It just came out this past week but I had an early copy thanks to the publisher and Netgalley.
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Re-shelve your TBR
This was an interesting suggestion. I didn’t try this but I can totally understand how it would get someone out of their slump.
The idea behind this suggestion is that you could be staring at the some of the books on your To Be Read list (TBR) and aren’t in the mood for them. By rearranging your TBR, you might re-discover something that has been pushed down to the bottom or has been sitting on there for a long time. And that just might be the title that gets you excited to start reading again.
Speaking of TBRs, I think this might be the year that I tackle my insanely large Goodreads TBR (there are 436 on the list! YIKES!) and try to wrestle it down to something more manageable. I can only imagine some of the books I’ll discover on there that I put on the list years ago! (Any tips on doing that, by the way?)
The most recent book I added to my TBR is The Vermeer Deception by Jennifer S. Alderson and I can’t to get my hands on it!
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So that’s it for this Friday! Thanks to all my amazing Twitter friends for coming to my aid and helping me out of my reading slump! Do you have any tips/tricks for when you feel too “bored” to read? Share them with me in the comments!
Every Friday, I share five things that have caught my interest – from my favourite book blog posts to my favourite bookstagram accounts, from random book lists I’ve put together to my current shopping list of bookish gifts. Have an idea for a future “5 for Friday” post? Leave a comment and let me know!
I have found that reading a variety of genres has helped me avoid reading slumps. To get out of them, I pick up something short, or relatively light like a YA. Great list Stephanie, and I’m glad you are out of your slump now!
Thanks Stephen! Variety is the spice of life, right? Having a nice range of books to choose from would definitely help from getting too bored!
Mid slump here🙌These are all great suggestions Stef!
Oh no! Well, I hope at least one of my suggestions works for you Rachel. Hope you get out of your slump soon! Would love to hear how you get out of it!
Great post, I recently started reshelving books that I’m not in the mood for. 🙂
Thanks Sarah! What do you do with those books? Do you have a different shelf so that you might go back to them someday?
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