There’s one phrase that can make any book lover tremble in
fear. Reading slumps.
*shudders*
They are the absolute worst, aren’t they? Today we’re going
to discuss them – what they are, how to get out of them and just some general
ranting about how much they suck. Without further ado, let’s get started.
In my opinion, a reading slump is a feeling you get out of
nowhere. One day, you’ll be zooming through books well on your way to your
Goodreads reading challenge goal and then the next day, suddenly you feel as if
you’re sinking into quicksand. No matter how many books you try, nothing will
keep your attention for long. Then you realised, you’re in the dreaded reading
slump.
It’s one of the worst things in the world, especially when
you’re already a few books behind on your Goodreads challenge and your TBR pile
took over all available space in your room a long time ago. You feel like
you’re letting down publishers and authors, and the people who read your blog.
But you know what? It’s not your fault. You can’t help getting into a reading
slump, and yeah – they’re really, really hard to get out of.
I speak from experience. I can’t count how many reading
slumps I’ve been in this year alone. The thing is, I’m a very intense reader. I
mentioned in my answers to the Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award post
(which is going up very soon) that I’m a yoyo blogger. By this I mean that, one
day I’ll write five blog posts and then the next I won’t even touch the blog.
I’m the exact same with reading – I’m one of two extremes, I either read an
entire book that day or I don’t pick one up. It really sucks, but that’s just
how my brain works.
Anyway, due to this, I’ve worked out a few ways to work
through this annoying slumps which I’m going to offer to you now. I’m not going
to pretend like these are unique ideas or anything, but I will explain why I
think they work.
1.
Re-read something you loved.
This is simple. What’s going to get you back into reading quicker than
revisiting one of your favourite stories?
2.
Read a children’s book
Now, this might be one of the books you decided to re-read but try giving
a children’s/middle grade book a go. There usually short and really fun and
easy to get through.
3.
Join a challenge
Whether you join a read-a-long, a read-a-thon or a challenge, try picking
out a few books that you really want to read and giving yourself a date to read
them by. Sometimes, you just need a little bit of motivation to get yourself
going.
4.
Watch book trailers/movie trailers
If there’s a book on your shelf that has a trailer, whether it be for the
book or movie, try watching it. I find that this often makes me want to read
the book even more – they usually pick out the interesting parts, and leave out
the twist so you have to read to find out.
5.
Take a break
If nothing else is working and your just getting more and more stressed,
give yourself a break. Forget about all those TBR books for now and do
something else – go for a walk, or watch a movie or bake a cake. Just do
something different!
6.
Just push through
Sometimes, none of these suggestions are going to work and so you just
have to push through. If you really aren’t loving a book, you can always put it
down but sometimes you just need to give that book another chance.
