How to Break Out of A Reading Slump
In my last reading round-up, I mentioned that I didn’t read all that much last year. There were quite a few factors: I was preparing for law school; I was moving; I was working two or three jobs at a time; My health, both physical and mental, were poor at different points of the year. In short, life simply got in the way.
It’s not that I didn’t try to read.
I can’t tell you how many books I started and stopped through 2019. I’d start listening to something on Audible and abandon it days later. I’d read a few pages of a book one night then leave it on untouched on the nightstand for weeks. Nothing held my interest. I hadn’t been so stuck in years, and I grew increasingly frustrated as I struggled to regain my footing.
I think that reading slumps happen to a lot of us. Either no book grabs your attention, or you stop in the middle of one and forget what was happening, or you just get busy and let your to-be-read pile stack up. Sometimes, when you’ve been stuck for a while, it can be overwhelming to jump back in. Now, I haven’t found the real secret to preventing ever-dreaded reading slump, but I have come up with a few tried and true ways to get back into the swing. Here’s what I’ve got so far…
Change up the way you read.If you like ink and paper, try an audiobook. If you like audiobooks, check out an ebook. If you like ebooks, pick up a good old-fashioned book. You get the idea. You might hate the new format. You might drop it after a few days. Or, you might love it! This happened to me when I first downloaded Audible*. I had been super busy with work, school, and even more work. A friend of mine had been lauding audiobooks for months, and I resisted because I firmly believed they were just not my thing. I was wrong. I decided to try Audible when I wanted to read Stephen King’s It, but didn’t have the time to sift through/couldn’t tote around a 1,000+ page book. Listening seemed like the next best option, and I figured I could cancel the service if I really decided I hated it. Long story short, I loved it, and have listened to over twenty titles since. So, be open! You never know where you might find your next best read.
Revisit an old favorite.
I sometimes find that when I’m stuck on what to read, it’s because nothing is really inspiring me. No book is exciting me the way I want it to. So why not grab for something I already know I love? It’s still reading, even if you already know the ending, and GoodReads* has even included a re-read option, so you can add your second (or third, or fourth, or hundreth) go-around to your annual challenge without losing any old data.
Read outside of your comfort zone.
I get what I call “genre fatigue”. I read a whole bunch of memoirs, or horror novels, or poetry collections until I get burnt out. I try to fight this by varying what I read normally. I’ll typically read a non-fiction book, then a novel, then a poetry collection, and repeat. But even doing this, I’ve gotten reader burnout. My solution was to read a few one-act plays, and, at least for me, it worked! So, if you read a lot of poetry, try some drama. If you read a bunch of sci-fi, grab a memoir. Read something you don’t normally read!
Read shorter books.
I like instant gratification. I was always a fast reader, but when I got older and therefore busier, it took me longer and longer to get through books. I’d get frustrated, and the irony is that, in my discouragement, I would set down books for long periods of time, thus taking longer to finish them. Now, I pick up slimmer volumes whenever I can. Short plays, smaller poetry collections, novellas, the works. If I’m feeling discouraged about the longer books I want to read, at least flipping through a shorter work will appease my need for instant gratification.
Carry books with you.
Whether it’s an audiobook you have downloaded on your phone or an actual, physical copy of the latest bestseller, carry your book around. Make it accessible! Make sure you have headphones if you’ve got some audiobooks, and always throw your e-reader or current read into your purse, backpack, or even in the backseat of your car. I used to keep a copy of Dostoyevsky’s Notes from the Underground in my glove compartment. Do what you have to, but travel with your books. You may not touch them for weeks, but one day you’ll be sitting in a waiting room a half hour past your appointment time and you’ll think, “You know what? What a great time to read!”
Read short stories.
In the same vein of “read shorter books”, reading short stories can give you the satisfaction of a quick read. Grab an anthology, or pick up a literary magazine. A lot of online publications have free content on their website for you to peruse at your leisure! Check your favorite author’s website and see if they have any of their short fiction posted, or where they’ve had stories published. Buy a short fiction collection! Just give short stories a chance. They’re a gold mine, and in the age of the internet, you can read them just about anytime, anywhere, from hundreds of thousands of talented authors.
This list is my no means exhaustive. There are plenty of ways to fight your way out a reading slump, but these are the ones that have helped me. Let me know what you think, and let me know if you’ve found any ways to beat the dreaded reading slump!
*This post has not been sponsored by and is not associated with any mentioned brands, websites, or services.