Posted in Chit Chat, Fashionably Late Reviews :)

How a couple of middle-of-the-road books can seriously break your stride

Reading slumps are real, yo. And sure, when you’re riding high after finishing with a five star read, it’s hard to imagine you’ll EVER have trouble picking up a book ever again.

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Well. You’re wrong. All it takes is for that whim of a book you’ve picked up (hey look, jaunty cover, cool concept, a little out of my normal comfort zone, what could go wrong?) to be an absolute fail and suddenly the mere thought of trying to dig through your TBR to find the right read fills you with a kind of sickness.

READING SLUMPS SUCK!

What middle-of-the-road reads did I fall prey to? Well, one of them was ‘The Movie Version’ by Emma Wunsch. I was SO EXCITED about this title because it’s got a similar vibe in the blurb to a book idea I’ve had rumbling around my head. The idea that a character can be so immersed in film, or pop culture, or something, that they then view the world through that lens.

But then you run the risk of alienating people if you’re to @into@ it, if that makes sense? If you’ve laid the references on so thick your reader is choking on them… it’s not a good thing.

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I found nothing I could connect with in the main character and the treatment of her brother, and of mental illness, was a little crude for me. I’ve probably mentioned it before but I’ve working in care and supported a wide range of people with different disabilities and mental health issues and there is nothing more galling to me that finding it handled clumsily inside a book. It’s why, even given my experience, I’m too chicken shit to attempt it myself. Eff that!

So basically this book broke me. But I’m not a quitter. I climbed right back on that horse and tried again with another book I was SURE I was going to love.

And considering it wasn’t far off Halloween, how could I be making a mistake with ‘The Women in the Walls’ by Amy Lukavics. Ah, me. Actually, to be fair to this book, I just don’t think I was in the right mood for it. I’m a TERRIBLE mood reader and if the book don’t fits? I can’t sits.

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So that knocked me down again. Was I ever going to find a book that kicked me right in the feels and had me glued to each page? Maybe it wasn’t meant to be. Ever again. *cries*

As October ticked over into November I decided enough was enough. I was going to beat this slump. So what did I do? Went creepin’ through my friend’s Goodreads shelves. And LO AND BEHOLD I FOUND A WINNER!

I’m back in the game, baby. I’m reading like a beast. And I cannot be happier.

The moral of the story? Dud books happen. You just gotta ride it through and find the right book for your mood. And patience. Or something.

What’s the worst reading slump you’ve ever been stuck in? TELL ME EVERYTHING!

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Author:

YA writer. Epic reader. Professional procrastinator.

2 thoughts on “How a couple of middle-of-the-road books can seriously break your stride

  1. Last June I was in a major reading slump. I think I scheduled my reading too much. I had a ton of books out from the library and I had hit the “request” button a few too many times on Netgalley. And I’m such a mood reader that it was hard to get into books I didn’t really “want” to read but felt like I *had* to read.

    Then I read a sequel for a book that I hadn’t totally enjoyed and ended up LOVING it! Which was a bit of a shock for me.

    Since then, I’ve really let my moods alter my “next” read. I created some “rules”: I’ve stopped taking out so many library books at a time, request fewer ARCs and started to read those books I bought years ago that I was excited to read. I used to alternate between YA and NA but now, I don’t have a problem reading two contemporary NA picks if that is what I feel like.

    And I’m happy to say that I’ve had two slumps in the last 11 months; a lot less than last year and they lasted a week tops, not multiple 🙂

    1. That’s a really good way of doing it.. literally just letting your mood decide what you want to read.

      Unfortunately I do have books I HAVE to read and even though it’s not the worst thing in the world it can totally derail my mojo. Haha!

      Oh I do love some NA. It can be hard to find the good ones sometimes though. 🙂

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