Let’s Talk Bookish – Reading Slumps

Aria @ Book Nook Bits is the new host for Let’s Talk Bookish! If you aren’t following her yet, good check out her blog and give her a follow!

May 26: What Causes Reading Slumps? (Aria)

Prompts: There have been past LTB topics about ways to get out of reading slumps, but I was curious about why they happen in the first place. Do you fall into reading slumps often? What causes them? Are there patterns you notice with when you tend to read fewer books? What do you do to get out of a reading slump?

Welcome back to another week of LTB here at DTRH, everyone! Today’s topic is about reading slumps, which I’m sure is relatable to everyone in the bookish community, blogger or not. I actually wonder if there are those who love books who have never fallen into any sort of slump. Let me know in the comments below if that applies to you!

I don’t fall into reading slumps too often, although I do not think that is directly correlated to reading a lot. Getting busy and not having time to read is not what I would personally categorize as a reading slump, though feel free to disagree there. I feel like the slumps often happen when you read a few books in a row that aren’t particularly exciting, and no new upcoming books really tickle your fancy either. The dampeners on your excitement to read another book is what starts the slump I think, and if nothing gets in the way of that, it can quickly snowball into total slump, I think.

I really think the cause is like a lack of motivation. For whatever external reason it is, usually a bad book, or perhaps just a series of books that aren’t exciting, these kinds of dampeners can really lower the excitement and motivation to read. I think if you just act passively in these situations, it can be really easy for the motivation to slip away, and just get less and less excited to read.

When I get busy I tend to read fewer books, which I think is the case with most people. But it’s not a strict correlation there either of course. If I’m excited enough about a book, most likely I will just make time for it despite the busy schedule. Yet sometimes I don’t read when I’m busy; I assume no book is just interesting enough at the time for me to consider a particular priority. I think it’s really easy to put down books and stop reading and then fall into the weird paradoxical slump where you “really want” to read, but don’t actually read. Does anyone else do that?

Honestly I usually hard force myself out of a slump usually. Or what also really helps is talking to other bookish friends or members of the community who are excited for something. All these will usually re-ignite my passion for reading and make me want to read as well. Even if I don’t speak to someone, honestly if I just pick up any book that sounds a little bit interesting, or something more exciting like a thriller, often times the emotions of reading a book will also jog my love of reading and get me out of a slump. Even if this doesn’t necessarily always have a 100% success rate, I find that since I really do enjoy reading, it isn’t too too hard to climb out of the slump.

How about you all? Are slumps common or just a rare occurrence? And how do you get out of them if so? Let me know in the comments below!