Reading Slumps

It's every book lover's nightmare: the dreaded reading slump. I've yet to come across anyone who doesn't experience these at some points in their lives. There are a million factors that contribute to this, whether it's not having enough time, mental health, books aren't holding the attention, or whatever else it is. Recently, I experienced one of these myself where I was reading less than my normal amount for most of August.  This inspired me to write a post and talk about some of my methods to get over a few different types of slumps I've experienced in my life.


      Sometimes, I'll reach reading exhaustion, usually from binge reading consecutively for longer than is recommended.

When this happens, I can't read anything longer than a single essay, short story or poem for a few days, occasionally as long as a week, oh the horror. Sometimes graphic novels work for me in this situation, but not always. Generally, by this time my attention span has been shot so that I can't even focus enough to finish the plot of a graphic novel.
     I'm sure many of you are familiar with, this other situation, the amazing and horrible experience of the book hangover. For those of you who haven't heard this term used, this is generally when a book hits you so hard in someway that you just can't bring yourself to pick up another one.
Sometimes this happens when a book guts me emotionally, or when I just absolutely loved every single thing about the book I just read. The feeling also comes when a book shocks the heck out of me, or leaves me with a cruel cliff hanger.

 When I experience the book hangover, I usually give myself a day or two to get over it, and then I'll force myself to do one of two things that seems to work. Option one, I'll pick up a contemporary or historical romance. I can generally read these easily and quickly, and I'm almost guaranteed to enjoy the book if it's from one of my trusted authors, so they're a great place to jump back into reading. The other thing that seems to work is picking up something from a completely different genre. If a fantasy induced the hangover, I'll go to realistic or historical fiction, maybe pick up a nonfiction book. When a thriller completely blows me away, I usually ease my way back into reading with short stories or a romance. Sometimes this also happens when I've entrenched myself into one genre for a few too many weeks, a so called extended book hangover. If I notice I've mostly been reading fantasy for the past few weeks, I'll make the effort of reading more nonfiction or literary fiction instead. There's obviously not an exact formula, but it usually helps me after a book hangover to try and pick up a fantastic book from a different genre.
     There are times that I just don't feel like reading. Does this happen often? No, but when it does I don't fight it.

I watch more TV, or do whatever it is I feel like doing instead of reading. I know eventually I'll pick up that book I've been meaning to read for the past two years, or I'll visit the library or bookstore and find a book I just have to start immediately when I get home. It's no use trying to force it or of feeling ashamed when this happens. If I do try to force it I end up reading half way through the book, and never going back to it. Even when I don't want to read, I still usually enjoy listening to podcasts about books, which is often what gets me to start reading again pretty quickly. Hearing people talk with such enthusiasm and knowledge about books almost always makes me want to go pick up a book recommended by the podcasts. I have a post coming about my favorite literary podcasts so look out for that!
     It can happen that there just isn't the time to fit reading into the schedule, whether it's because of work, school, or the millions of other things life can throw at you. When you wish you were reading, and time is the only thing stopping you, it majorly sucks. 

If you're plugged into the bookish internet world even just a little it can be torturous; you see other people on the internet reading all these new and awesome books that you can't find the time to read. When this happens, I start incorporating more audiobooks into my everyday life. My mom often played audiobooks in the car when I was growing up, so I've always been familiar with listening to them, and increasingly enjoyed them as I got older. I don't always listen to audiobooks in the car, but when I haven't been able to fit in actual reading time, I'll start listening to a book every time I'm in the car or have a chance to put my headphones in. Libby, the app, is a great resource for this, if you have a library card you have access to tons of free library audiobooks right on your phone. The loans only last 7 days for my library, but as long as there's no waiting list you can repeatedly check it out until you finish the book.
     The last type of slump I'm going to be writing about is when I experience a mental health block that impacts my reading life. I've struggled with various mental health issues throughout my life, and when they impede my ability to read, it exacerbates the affects of mental illness. This is wen I have the hardest time getting myself back in reading mode. While I know reading will make me feel better in the end, I often don't want to force myself to do anything. Graphic novels almost always work in this case, I can so easily be sucked in due to the combination of story and visual design to occupy my mind. This is really the only time that a romance book of any sort does not work. If anything these can get me into a deeper slump, so I stay well away from them.

 Fantasy or science fiction works well here as well, especially when the author is focused on world building which easily brings vivid imagery to mind. If it's a lighter mental health slump, sometimes a self help book works, even though I can be picky when it comes to these books. I am often finding things I don't agree with in them, but there are a few that I've honestly enjoyed and have helped me view myself, other people, and the world in general differently. Sometimes in my mental health slumps these help, and other times they just can't hold my attention enough at that time.
     There is of course, no exact prescription to heal the reading slump, but there are ways you can help yourself along. It may be forcing yourself to pick up a book outside your comfort zone, but recommended by someone you trust. Maybe you need to not pick up a book at all for an extended period of time. Some might need to go reread a long time favorite, or a book that you remember you loved but could only recall the general ideas of the story. Perhaps you need to turn to social media, I frequently find myself inspired by all the beautiful pictures and words about books I see on these sites. There are different ways to help dig yourself out of the hole that is the reading slump, hopefully some of my suggestions will be helpful in this endeavor.