We’ve all been there. You finish a book, look at your TBR and nothing stands out. If you pick a book, you leave it at page 2, distracted. You turn your TV on, go out, check social media, cook, do anything but read and now the book is abandoned on your nightstand or your shelf. Weeks pass by and the book is coated with dust, unmoved. You start feeling guilty, seeing everyone update their reading statuses. What is happening!?
You know it. A dreaded reading slump has arrived and settled in your life. But worry no more! They’re not as bad as you think. We always seem to want to get rid of them, but I’ve found that sometimes fighting them is the wrong approach. So today I’m making my case in defense of reading slumps and why they’re not exactly bad.
I’ve seen a myriad of fantastic posts on how to get out of or avoid a reading slump, but in a reader’s life, I think they’re mostly inevitable. That’s why I’ve decided to look on the bright side of things.
Below I show you some of the causes that have brought reading slumps into my life and why my advice to you if you ever encounter them is to stop reading for a while. Yes, that’s right, a book blogger telling other readers to stop reading sounds insane, but hear me out. I think that every cause has a not-so-hidden meaning that you should really pay attention to.
1. You have a book hangover.
You just finished a book or a series that you love and now everything else seems inconsequential or maybe you read a thought provoking book that makes you feel like you need time to analyze it or make sense of it. Why would you want to push yourself to read something else then? Your reading experience with a book is not over when you turn the last page.
What a reading slump after a book hangover is really telling you is that you should take some some time off on your reading to be able to dwell on that last thing you read and take full advantage of that reading experience. Maybe it’ll inspire you to create some fan-art or blog posts, maybe you decide to research something related to the book and learn something new, or maybe you’ll just daydream about being part of the world in the book, and that’s okay too! In a few days you’ll probably feel like you’ve gather all your thoughts on that read and you’ll be ready to move on with a new perspective, something new learned, or even something artistic created.
2. You are too busy.
Work, school, family or friends’ stuff —you have too much going on to pick a book. You’re constantly thinking of doing something else and you don’t think there’s enough time to sit down and concentrate on reading. Then you should definitely not read! It’ll stress you out if you’re thinking of your to-do list when you’re trying to read, so welcome the reading slump to organize all the things going on in your life. At some point, you’ll have enough time to make yourself grab a book and read at least a page a day.
3. You are dedicating all your reading time to other hobbies.
Maybe you decided to re-watch a favorite show from the start (I’m looking at you Gilmore Girls, I’m definitely looking at you), a new game for the PS just came out, or you’ve been super inspired and can’t stop taking pictures, it could be anything. You don’t have time to do all your hobbies and you’ve left reading behind. That’s totally fine! Give yourself time to explore other activities. If Netflix decided to drop a new season of a cool show and you dedicate a week to it (or days, if you binge-watch them like me), then so be it! Don’t feel bad about it.
What I’m trying to say, to put it simply, is to take advantage of reading slumps. If you love reading, you will go back to it. Maybe you’ll need some inspiration and being part of the bookish community is of great help to find it. In the meantime, don’t feel bad about not reading, it’s definitely not worth it. For me, a reading slump is simply the best time to organize myself, explore other hobbies, or focus on studying or a work project.
Chapter Adventures 
Great post, Esther! I’ve always been on the side of embracing the dreaded slump ❤
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Thank you! And I’m glad you agree, if you can’t fight them, join them!
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Nice post! I’ve had an on and off reading slump for two months now. I think I overload myself with too many things. Up until two days ago, I was posting 1-2 book reviews or discussion topics on my blog per day, which is very time consuming, and on top of that balancing a full time job, writing more posts, and editing and re-writing two manuscripts to meet deadlines with my editor. I barley had time to do all that. Well, I really never had the time. I somehow squeezed in half of each thing, but I started to realize each of them suffered a little because my attention was in too many places. And then what time did I honestly have left for reading with all that? Probably none. I’d try to fit in an hour before bed or scan a few pages on my phone, but I didn’t get much reading done. I’m still balancing all of these things, but I decided to take time out to do one at a time instead of multi-tasking and only finishing a little of each. I was an another mini slump until an hour ago when Red Rising started to get good and now I’m completely hooked. Anyway, I’m rambling. Good idea for a post!
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Thanks! Wow, you do have a lot going on, it’s good that you balance it out. It’s sad to leave reading aside, but yeah, sometimes it’s necessary. I’m glad you’re hooked on a book and back to reading again, though. Good luck with all your projects!
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Yeah, I’d much rather read than do line edits. Editing is my least favorite part of writing. Thanks! I’m glad I finally found something I want to read. It’s been hard lately with all of the over hyped books. Hardly anyone gives their honest opinion about them anymore, which makes it really hard to find a good one.
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Ooh, I love this post! I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone talk about the positives of reading slumps so it’s really great to see this! As someone with little to no attention span reading slumps are a constant thing for me, haha. I was actually in a reading slump that lasted like a year and a half and only got back into reading this year (thank you, Illuminae haha!). This post has definitely helped me feel better about when I get in slumps.
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Thank you, I’m glad you liked it! I have also been in very long reading slumps, but now that I get them, they are shorter and I’ve learned to embrace them 🙂 I thought it would be nice to see the bright side for once.
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Such a great post!
I am also one of those readers who ecourage reading slumps.
Having seen your friends reading a lot when you’re in a slump is not the greatest feeling in the world, but I think slumps come for a reason.
I think our brain knows when it’s enough and needs a little break from reading so we could do other stuff, try something new or relax. I usually think that brain wants to use some other cells instead those we use for reading.
Maybe it’s sill, but it’s just the way I see it.
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Thank you! And that’s not silly at all! That’s a cool way to see it.
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This post came right on time for me. For a couple of weeks now I can’t seem to even think of picking up a book. I’ve been constantly thinking: “what is wrong with me?” “why can’t I read?” (I mean, I LOVE reading!) and: “will I ever be able to read like I used to again?”
A reading slump can really get you depressed, not knowing when it’ll pass or how to make it stop. I even made a rather frustrated post about it on my blog (http://magiverse.blogspot.co.il/2016/04/reading-slumps-bane-of-reader-life.html), and as a book blogger… not being able to read and seeing everyone else reading, is excruciating. And then I saw your post and it really made me feel better – that maybe that best solution is to just relax and let it pass (:
Maybe stressing about it will only make it longer.
Great post! (:
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I am so happy that the post made you feel better! I think it really helps to give it time, it takes the stress out of reading again so you will find yourself picking a book up again without feeling obligated or guilty for taking off time. I’ll be sure to check your post!
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I’m the kind of person who doesn’t allow themselves to have a reading slump mostly because I can’t bring myself to stop reading. If I don’t want to read a book I usually just read Fanfiction and I’m still reading. But I totally see the good side of taking the time to break from reading for awhile, great post!
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Thank you!
That’s really great! It’s such good idea. If you keep reading other things, even if they’re not books, it keeps your reading flame alive 😀
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Okay first of all I LOVE this post. I do try to take advantage of reading slumps and work on other things. I usually end up finding a whole new genre of books to read because I can’t even come remotely close to what I was reading. I switch genres a lot so I don’t get burned out.
You have some really great advice here for how to make the best of it. Great post!
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Thank you, I’m glad you liked it! I think that’s a great idea, changing genres. That’s actually something that I do a lot and recommend. I’m even starting a new series on the blog next week called Genre Exploration, which is practically my first approach to some genres. I would love to know what you think of that.
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