Monday, July 6, 2009

A Small Case of the Summer Lazies

I'm suffering from the summer lazies.

No, this is not in relation to Game On Diet, that's going mostly well.

It has more to do with reading. And blogging.

I have a list of 20 posts I'd like to write, but sitting down with the computer and doing actual writing just doesn't seem like fun. And I have several hundred books to read but none of them are grabbing me. I open them up and they start annoying me in the first few pages.

Okay maybe this does have to do with Game On Diet because when I started I got totally thrown off my reading game. But there were some other things going on....a transition at work and housesitting that have also made my schedule seem off. And it's REALLY hot.

I'm usually not a moody reader at all. I usually will open up whatever's next and read it and enjoy. This past weekend I barely made it through a review I had to write for my other blog and my book club choice and I had quite the inner dialogue.

I did consume the rest of Supernatural's third season which was so excellent, such fantastic story-telling and emotional intensity that maybe I just need to recover from that.

Or maybe I just need to write this all out and be magically cured. :) That's what I'm hoping!

Anyone else suffering from the reading burn-out or just being lazy?




Amy

31 comments:

woman who roars said...

I'm facing a mountain of books (literally) and a back log of suggested titles and little impulse to open or buy any of them. I WANT to read, but haven't found the right one to loosen the floodgates.

I want to be swept into another world and be faced with the difficult choice of finishing a chapter vs. getting any sleep/doing any work.

I think i need to go to a used book store and flip thru the old books, dust jacketless, non-descript,no one else's blurb or review defining the story, randomly reading a page until I notice 20 pages later that I've been drawn in..... wish me luck to get out the door!

Chris said...

Sorry to hear that you're having the summer lazies Amy :( I go through times like this every now and then where nothing grabs me and I have hard times posting. Hope you get out of it soon..I know it's no fun. On a good note, I gave you two bad blogger points today!

Rhiannon Hart said...

Now that you mention it the bloggers in the northern hemisphere have quietened down in the last month! I imagine you are all swanning about in shorts with sandy paperbacks, and I'm very jealous. Here in Melbourne we are all freezing. Lots of reading getting done in the evenings though! Come summer I'll be back in balmy bars talking crap and neglecting my blog I'm sure. Aaaah, can't wait!

Tif Sweeney said...

I definitely have the lazies . . . I think!! I have a huge stack of books to review and just am not getting them reviewed. I just keep finding every excuse not to write them . . . and there have been some good books too! I think I may just be to the point that it's just too overwhelming maybe . . . If I got caught up, then maybe I wouldn't have the lazies anymore?!?!

Lenore Appelhans said...

My July "read anything I want to" has really invigorated my reading. I'm devouring books and for the first time actually have unwritten reviews!

The heat does make me lazier though generally. And so does having two lazy cats (we call them lazymakers!).

ANovelMenagerie said...

Oh, girl... you know I am. Did you happen to read my Monday's Movie post today? I figured out who that actress was that we saw in the coffee shop. It was Kathy Baker. It was buggin' me like mad!

Sheri

Meghan said...

I definitely know how you feel. I'm still reading voraciously, but writing reviews and blogging has gone out the window. I'm lucky I built up a lot when I had the drive for it. Right now I'm looking at a stack of 10 books that need to be reviewed (one of them by tomorrow no less) and inwardly sighing. Every time I look at them, I go read instead. I used to churn out reviews right after I finished books but it just isn't happening this month.

I hope you get through your summer lazies soon!

Sandy Nawrot said...

I read alot when I was in Poland, and really tried hard to write the review while I was there in a Word document. Otherwise, I would be completely overwhelmed once I got home. Now I have actually given myself a bit of room, which I've never had before. There are times when my brain is dead and I feel I have no words in there, but once I sit down (sometimes with a glass of wine!) the words come. One bad habit I have is no matter WHAT I am reading, about a third of the way through, I'm twitching to get started on another book. I have a hard time just focusing on the book at hand and enjoying it. Most of the time, when I am distracted by other big projects, I lose my focus on blogging and reading. I just did a mid-year recap and I can actually SEE evidence of this. I think all of us are so driven to plow through the books and post every day that it is inevitable that we hit slumps.

Jill said...

I'm with you! I've been trying to figure this out for myself lately. I used to sit down immediately after closing a book and write my review...and now, even if I loooved the book, I have found myself sitting down at the computer, playing around with writing it, telling myself I'll do it later, and starting another book. I have about 10 reviews I need to write! Help!! :)

bermudaonion said...

Relax and take it easy on yourself - you'll get past this in no time!

Julie P. said...

I think Kathy's right -- relax. Read for fun and not because you have to. I think so often as bloggers we out pressure on ourselves to read and review. I know I drive myself crazy sometimes.

Bonnie said...

I've been going through something similar the past few weeks. Maybe we just need to take a summer break for a bit and re-energize. I like Lenore's idea for July to read anything she wants.

Jen said...

I actually read more in the summer. I find that I do a lot of my reading in the car and since we take a lot of road trips in the summer I get in a good chunk of reading then. I also read a lot at the beach and we spend a lot of time on the weekends.

I hope you get out of your funk! :)

Bibliolatrist said...

I am feeling really lazy, too. House is a mess - don't want to clean. Piles of unread books - don't want to read them. It'll pass.

Beth F said...

I'm waving my magic wand over you --- hoping that is the cure.

Jen Robinson said...

I'm going through this a bit now, too, Amy. In the past month I've been really disciplined about writing the reviews right after I finish reading each book. Which has been great, but now I find myself only wanting to read things that I won't, for whatever reason, feel like I have to review. So even though I have a ton of kids/YA titles, many of which I'm eager to read, I'm not reading them b/c I'm burned out on writing reviews.

I do think that Lenore is on the right track with the read whatever you want hiatus. Good luck!

Joanne ♦ The Book Zombie said...

I just got over my first round of summer lazies - it was horrible. I had all kinds of ideas for blogging, and all kinds of books to read, but nothing was holding my attention. Just sitting and thinking was tiresome. So I totally feel for you and hope you feel better very soon!

And I'm very jealous that you're at season 3 of Supernatural - I'm halfway through the first season and utterly addicted :)

Michelle said...

I tire out from writing fiction all the time. In fact I'm on "sabbatical" now as I haven't written a non-blog posting word in well over two months. I hope to get back into the swing of things at some point but am not forcing the issue. Which is what I encourage you to do. Just relax, go where your mood takes you and enjoy. Because if you force yourself you'll just push it all further away.

Anonymous said...

I am TOTALLY in the same boat as you are Amy! I'm pretty relieved to learn I'm not alone too. I have downloaded a ton of samples onto my Kindle and try to read for at least twenty minutes a day but it's so hard right now. I can't put my finger on it either. Good luck with getting back on the reading and blogging wagon and I hope I get back up soon too.

Thomas said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

I know exactly what you are going through - I usually read between 20 to 30 books a month & since the start of this year, my tots have gone WAY down.

Beth Kephart said...

oh, how this happens to me.

and that it happens to you, dear one, means that it is okay that it happens to me.

Vasilly said...

I thought I was the only one going through it. I have so many reviews I need to write but I don't have the time, energy, or desire to. I did ask myself was it the diet but I'm not sure. I can read a book right now but write a review? It's not happening.

Thomas said...

Maybe something or someone is telling you that you need a break. Instead of looking at this as a reading block, look at it as a chance to rest and maybe even try new things. Then again, I have been wrong before.

Someone I respect once mention that if a you are suffering from writers block that it is helpful to just write anything that comes to your mind for four to fives minutes a day. Over time the words will start flowing again. I wonder if that will help with a reading block. Instead of reading a book how about reading magazines or newspapers. Just maybe that might be the fuel needed to break through the book reading block.

Blessings
Thomas

Becca said...

Oh I am definitely suffering from this, Amy! I did not have a name for it other than "feeling off" but summer lazies seems very fitting for it! I have about 7 book reviews to write, which is odd for me because I usually write the review immediately after I finish the book. I have also been feeling more of my ADD symptoms than usual. It seems to happen in June and July every year.

Hopefully by confronting our summer lazies we will overcome them, right? :)

Anonymous said...

I'm comment lazy. :-)

The Reading Momster said...

Bingo! me too! So what do we do :D

Monica said...

I experience that EVERY time I finish a book. That's why I hate having required readings... I want to read whatever I'm in the mood for next.

Betty and Boo's Mommy said...

Wow - reading these makes me feel like I've just come out of a much-needed therapy session. Thank you all! So glad this isn't just me. Like others, I usually review books immediately - I never have a backlog of reviews, until now. I can't seem to even review a children's book, for goodness sakes. This too shall pass ...

Alison said...

I have a stack of books that needs reviewing, and another stack of books that needs reading. Why is it that I can't tear myself away from watching Buffy on Hulu? Summer lazies? Is there a pill for that?

I say give into it, have a glass of wine, and don't be so hard on yourself.

Sherrie Petersen said...

I felt that way today. And yesterday. I'm glad it's not just me.

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