Reading is such a big part of my life; there is never a time where I’m not in the middle of a book. However, as much as I love reading, I have so many times where I suffer from a reading slump1. Currently, I’m suffering from a major one that’s been going on for about a month or two.
I’ve learned some tips and tricks over the past couple of years that have helped me to get out of one. Sometimes methods that typically might work don’t always work for me, so it’s something you just have to try and see what works for you.
Push through and read
The biggest thing that usually works for me is just to force myself to sit and read. I have to find the time where I can sit down without much distraction for a while and get into what I’m reading. Now, if I’m reading something that doesn’t interest me all that much, this trick tends to fail. I would either pick a book you know you love, or one that you’ve been looking forward to and are pretty sure you’re going to love.
Buy a new book
Whenever I buy a new book (or in my case books), it always makes me excited to read again. Sometimes, if I have books sitting on my shelf for a while, I lose a bit of my excitement about reading them. I will eventually want to read them, but I just lose interest in them after some time. Getting a new book gives me a new story and adventure to look forward to, especially when I get something I had wanted to read for a while.
Watch book hauls
There are times where buying a book may just not being an option. Maybe money is tight, or you just don’t have the chance to get out to a bookstore. If this is the case, watching book hauls is usually a good alternative. I know it sounds a little odd, but it always gets me excited about books. If I can’t experience the excitement of having a new book first hand, living vicariously to others who are just as passionate about books works well too.
Check out book reviews
Checking out a review of the book will help you to decide if it’s even worth reading or not. Unfortunately, your reading slump could just be a result of reading a bad book – even if you were looking forward to it. And if it is a good book, hearing someone else’s thoughts on how awesome it is will help to build your curiosity and excitement about it. There are tons of spoiler-free reviews out there, so you don’t have to worry about ruining the book for yourself. Most book reviews will tell you whether or not it contains spoilers.
Take a break
When all else fails, just give up. Honestly, if nothing else is working for you, you might need just to take a step back from it and do other things. I know I have tons of times where my reading slump is just a result of wanting to do other things. Recently, I discovered the awesomeness that is ‘The Orange is the New Black’ and spent all of my free time watching it. Or I got really into working on my blog recently and kept getting distracted. If you just let yourself enjoy those other things for a while, you’ll eventually get through that, and the urge to read will hit you again. Just be patient.
There are so many other awesome, great tips and tricks out there, but these are ones that usually help me. If you have any tips you’d like to share, I’d love to hear about them!
- A reading slump is where you just can’t get into reading. You pick up a book, but no matter how hard you try, you just can’t sit and read ↩
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