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March 11, 2016

Discussion Post: Slumps

When I was in high school, I used to read like crazy. This is a list of books I read in 2014. Notice I read 26 books in April. That’s how good insane I was.

Since I joined university, I’ve hit all kinds of slumps. Big ones, small ones, slumps that I thought would never end, slumps where I’ve been unable to read fantasy, slumps that happened because I started watching Parks and Rec and forgot books even existed. I’ve seen them all. I just celebrated the end of my most recent slump with the pure gem that is OCDaniel (more on that in my eventual review).

So now that I’m out of my slump and am able to look back on those dull, glum, slumpy months of my life, I’ve figured out how to fix most types of slumps. For now, at least.

Broadly, when it comes to pulling yourself out of a slump, you need to figure out why you’re in a slump and fix it based on the reason. Here is a list of all the reasons I’ve ever been in a slump.

You’re reading too many books from the same genre.


After I binge read the Lumatere Chronicles, I felt like I’d eaten three massive pies at once. I was happy and sated, but I simply could not read any more fantasy, no matter how hard I tried. I needed to go easy for a while. So I went in the exact opposite direction. Cue The Massive Na Binge of Summer 2015. I read Julie Cross, reread Cora Cormack, and discovered Elle Kennedy, and it was the best, 10/10 would recommend.

Advice: Jump out of your comfort zone! Pick up a graphic novel. Try horror or adult or a thriller or any genre that you’ve shied away from. You’ll be surprised.

You’re overwhelmed by all the books you have to review.


I’ve been only been blogging for a few months, but I still have that voice that the back of my head that cheerfully reminds me I have eARCs about to expire, books that I need to read and review and format and post and promote and dear god I’m exhausted already.

Advice: Indulge in some backlist reading! This is what non-blogger readers (like me, just a few months ago) did while waiting for books to come out. Every year, we mean to read every book that catches our fancy, and every year there's piles of books that we didn't pick up despite the hype and the fangirling. Go back to a book that was popular a few years ago. Go through your Goodreads shelves and look for books that have been out for a while. You'll probably be able to borrow them from your library or buy them for cheap.

Nothing interests you.


I have been here more times than I can count. All through January, I picked up and gave up on A Study in Charlotte, This is My Brain on Boys, A Gathering of Shadows, and This Savage Song after less than thirty pages. I was horrified. Giving up on both Victoria Schwab and Sarah Strohmeyer ARCs in one week? I was clearly losing it, I told myself. If only I had a book that I knew wouldn’t disappoint me-- but wait. I did. I picked up the Lunar Chronicles and started rereading the books--I’d been meaning to read Winter anyways. I’ve talked about why rereading is so important to me. This time was no different. I went back to a world of Cinder and Scarlet and Cress and Thorne and evil moon queens I regret nothing.

Advice: Reread! Rereading is like coming home to an old friend and catching up with your lives and pouring your heart out to someone and knowing they won’t disappoint you. Put all those new people in your life on hold and go talk to someone you know like the back of your hand.

Bonus: It's not you, it's me.


But sometimes, you don’t want to get out of a slump. Sometimes you start watching a show that pulls you in heart and soul and hook and sinker (ahem Parks and Rec). Sometimes you’ve discovered the joy of cooking or reading or gardening or coding and you like doing those things more than reading. Sometimes life and and homework and those pesky degrees get in the way. And then you start to panic and worry that you don’t like reading as much.

NO I STILL LOVE YOU GUYS, you yell, forcing yourself to read book after book after book.

Advice: Let them go.

Seriously. Take a break. Take a walk. Watch Leslie and Ben awkwardly flirt. Get that assignment done. Plant a tree. Let go of your books, walk away, breathe, and wait for your books to come to you. And I promise you, as a veteran of more slumps than I care to admit, you’ll find your way back to each other and it will be just as glorious as it was before.

If not more.

Have you ever experienced a slump? How did you get out of it? Do you have anything to add to my advice? Discuss!


2 comments:

  1. I've been in a mild slump this past month but then I started reading Splintered by A.G. Howard and I can safely say I'm out of it now! Sometimes you need to switch up your genres (I think I was reading too much contemporary), sometimes life is stressful and it's hard to focus on something other than all the things you have going on, sometimes you just don't feel like reading and you need a break from all the books. I went through quite a few reading slumps last year because of all my school work but you always manage to find a book that will bring you out of it! Excellent post!

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  2. This is my favourite post on slumps that I've read so far - and there's been so, so many. I love your advice, it is definitely spot on. Thanks!

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