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Monday, January 18, 2016
The Reading Slump
As readers, there's always the risk of ailments we'll suffer. The book hangover, one more chapter syndrome, the ugly cry, spoilers, etc. Right now, this reader is suffering the reading slump. As in, I can't get through a book.
Oh, I've tried.
I made it a few chapters into The Martian before gently and temporarily setting it down for a book more appropriate of my mood at the time. Given, I did finish Paper Towns by John Green, but I dragged it out way longer than I needed to because, well, reading slump. I've tried listening to an audiobook, the next in a series I've really enjoyed. I'm also most of the way through Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk, one of my favorite authors, most of which was read through in one day. But I just can't find the final push I need to finish it out for no other reason than reading slump.
I think it's possible the last book I read before this reading slump was Truths We Tell, book two in the Truth series by our very own Brenda St. John Brown. That was back in November, which should stand as an example of how bad of a slump I'm in. November. Of last year.
Usually, the reading slump is treated with the right book at the right time, but my book choices and timing haven't been matching up. There is hope, though. While catching up on my shows and sewing this afternoon I saw the trailer for The 5th Wave and it caught my interest enough that I'm contemplating jumping into it before the timing escapes me. Wish me luck!
In the event the next book is also a bust, what is your go-to to pull you out of a reading slump?
--Brianna Lebrecht
I LOVED The 5th Wave! True, it gave me weird dreams, but I couldn't put it down. I recently read An Ember in the Ashes, which left me with an epic book hangover, but then I read The Distance from A to Z, so it was short-lived. Usually my go-to cure is to re-read a few chapters of something I know I love. I'm not normally a re-reader, so this always seems to help.
ReplyDeleteI've gotten into reading slumps. The best advice is to read something entirely out of your usual genre.
ReplyDeleteI just got out of a reading slump that lasted a couple months, mainly because I hadn't read anything that truly knocked my socks off. Then I read Truthwitch by Susan Dennard (just came out last week), and LOVED it! Reading slump over. Also, The 5th Wave is really good! :-)
ReplyDeleteI'm with Kimberly. When I can't seem to get into the books I'm readying, I go for something outside of my normal genre. Since it's all new, my interest stays sparked. My other tactic is to read 'boring' stuff that I've been putting off - such as non-fiction books that I picked up for a purpose rather than a reading escape. After one of those I'm usually really happy to get back into a fiction book!
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