Tips to Overcome a Reading Slump

Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly series hosted by Rukky at Eternity Books and Danie at Literary Lion. The full list of July topics can be found here.

It’s been a while since I’ve participated in a Let’s Talk Bookish post! This topic is actually from last week but I couldn’t resist chiming in with some thoughts.

Reading slumps are inevitable. I think most of us have hit a roadblock with reading at some point or another in our lives, if not just in the last year alone.

I’ve found myself in a reading slump for generally two reasons…

• Nothing I read is holding my interest
• I just read an amazing book and everything afterward feels dull

Sometimes we find ourselves in reading slumps because of life in general. We are so preoccupied with work, school, or family that by the end of the day we are simply too tired to pick up a book a read. Trust me, I’ve been there.

Sometimes you don’t want to force yourself out of a slump and other times you try everything possible to get out of it.

Here’s what I’ve done in the past…

• Don’t force it. If you aren’t enjoying what you’re reading, put it down. There is nothing worse than when a book starts to feel like homework.
• Ask for recommendations. Ask a fellow book lover or family member to recommend a book that they couldn’t put down. Chances are, you’ll come away with a handful of books for inspiration.
• Return to a series. I am prone to reading series versus standalone and a huge reason why is because I literally always have something to read. If it isn’t a Tracers book, it’s a J.P. Beaumont book, or a Strike book, or a Cupcake Bakery book…you get the idea. There are so many genres of series out there that I always have something to fall back on no matter what mood I’m in.
• Distract yourself with other things. If I’m not in the mood to read, I turn to shows or movies to distract me. I’m still getting lost in a fictional world, but in a way that requires considerably less mental effort.
• Stay in the moment. This goes along with the first tip about not forcing it. If there are other things you’d rather be doing, by all means go and do them. For example, I can never read while on vacation even if I take ten books with me. Why? Because I prefer to focus on enjoying every second of vacation and staying present 🙂

I hope that some of these tips help the next time you find yourself in a reading slump.

What are some of your tips for getting back into reading? Tell me in the comments or drop a link to your Let’s Talk Bookish post so I can check it out!