What Do You Call a Bookworm Without a Book?
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Why a Reading Slump Is No Joke and How to Get Out of One
It’s a reader’s worst nightmare (according to Urban Dictionary, anyway) and yet I don’t know a single reader that hasn’t been through at least one in their reading lifetime.
Yes, I’m talking about A READING SLUMP.
I’m a bona fide bookworm. I’m talking the ‘carries a book everywhere, can’t pass by a bookshop without going in, has multiple library cards’ kind. I’ve been reading since I was four, and I’m now, well...a little older than that and during my life, I’ve had several major reading slumps.
I’m not talking about those gaps of days or sometimes weeks where you’ve finished one book but haven’t quite got round to picking up another yet, or those times when life gets busy and reading time is scarce if you can find it at all. No, I’m talking weeks, months, even years in some cases, where for one reason or another (or a combination of reasons or seemingly no reason whatsoever), I’m unable to read.
When I say unable to read, obviously I don’t lose the ability to tie the words on the page to their meanings, but it does sometimes feel like that.
To anyone who hasn’t experienced a book slump, it may sound as simple as going-off reading or finding other things to do with your time, and perhaps for some people, that’s the case. Personally, I’ve always experienced a slump as either an inability to read or at the very least, a sudden lack of joy in reading.
Usually, the desire to read is there, but I might struggle to ‘get into’ a book. That’s not unusual in itself; after all, every reader knows it’s impossible to fall in love with every single book out there. The worry begins when I put the book down and pick up another and find myself with the exact same problem. Repeat ad infinitum.
Sometimes I’ll try to persevere but find I’m easily distracted, checking my phone between pages, eavesdropping on nearby conversations (not that I would ever, obviously) or finding a reason to put the book down...and not pick it back up again until several months later. By this time, it’s accumulated a thick layer of dust, and I’ve accumulated a nagging guilt at neglecting it - and my reading habit - for so long.
2020 has been a strange year for us all, and readers are no exception. Some people have found they have more time to read than ever before, others have found their concentration span affected massively by the events unfolding around us, and their reading has suffered as a result.
I’m in the latter category, having gone from an average of one book per week to less than one per month. In comparison to everything else going on, not being able to read hardly seems something to worry about, but when reading is your main hobby and usual means of escape, not having time to read or not enjoying it when you do can have a significant impact on your mood and wellbeing.
It’s not all doom and gloom, however. Reading slumps, no matter how frustrating or how long they go on for, do eventually come to an end but if you’re fed-up of waiting for it to pass, here are some tried and tested ways of un-slumping yourself:
1. Re-Read Old Favourites
There’s something comforting about re-visiting a book you’ve already read and enjoyed. It’s the literary equivalent of an old friend throwing open their front door and welcoming you in after a long absence.
If I ever find myself in a reading slump, this is the first thing I try and very often it works, although it sometimes takes a few old favourites before I’m ready to move onto something new.
Another wonderful thing about this exercise is that no matter how many times you’ve read a book before, it’s always a new experience coming back to it. ‘You never read the same book twice’ is a well-known quote in the reading world, and I, for one, believe it’s true. The words on the page might be the same, but a book is about more than that, it’s an interaction between story and reader. You’ll be surprised at what things you notice that you haven’t before, especially if it’s been a while.
2. Try Something New
This is another failsafe for me. If re-reading an old favourite isn’t doing the trick, or you’re not really a re-reader, then why not go to the other extreme and try something completely new?
If you usually read fiction, why not pick up a piece of non-fiction or memoir for a change? Horror readers could try science-fiction, thriller readers could swap their page-turners for a slow-burn romance; fans of contemporary fiction could pick-up a historical novel.
If you don’t want to branch out of your usual genre, you could try switching formats. Reading a hefty hardback is a very different experience to reading the same book on an e-reader. Reading on your phone can trick you into thinking you’re scrolling and reduce the pressure, as can picking up a tatty old paperback from a charity or secondhand shop.
You can even switch up your location. Reading in the bath forces me to read because there aren’t many other options! Similarly, taking a book with me to an appointment means I’m less likely to find myself scrolling endlessly in the waiting room.
3. Buy (or Borrow) a New Book AND Read It Immediately!
A revolutionary concept, I know! So many bookworms, myself included, accidentally become book hoarders. Whether it’s from bringing one too many books home from the library or an inability to walk by a bookshop without going inside and parting with your hard-earned cash, it’s easy to become overwhelmed by your TBR pile (that’s ‘To-Be-Read’ pile to the uninitiated).
If you find yourself staring at that stack of books by your bed or your bookshelves, wondering where on earth to begin, you might want to try something fresh without all that pressure and expectation.
4. Do Literally Anything Else
Sounds backwards, I know, but hear me out. Sometimes it feels as though curling up with a book and a cuppa is the ultimate indulgence and the very last thing we should be doing (especially when the world is on fire), and that nagging guilt and awareness of everything else we could be doing with our time can make it difficult to carve out reading time or to enjoy it when we do.
If you think this might apply to you, instead of forcing it, try instead to work on that seemingly endless list of ‘other stuff’.
Do that load of laundry in the bottom of the basket that never quite makes it to the washing machine, go for a long, rambling walk, take that exercise class you promised yourself you’d sign up for, bake a cake, clean your oven, tidy your nonsense drawer - you know, the one we all have and continually tell ourselves we’ll sort through - yes that one.
Basically, do whatever it takes to fill that time you were planning to give over to reading.
Eventually, one of two things will happen- you’ll either run out of other stuff to do (in which case, congratulations! You’ve won at life!), and you can reward yourself with some well-deserved reading time minus the distracting guilt. Or (if you’re anything like me), you’ll realise the reason you never do any of that other stuff is because it’s incredibly dull, in which case, you’ll get bored and find you’d much rather be reading (hurray!) so it works either way!
So there you have it, four tips on how to claw your way out of a reading slump from someone who’s been there several times over. And remember, no matter how long it takes or how frustrating it feels, it will pass, and when it does there’s a whole world of books waiting.
