Reader’s Block. Oh, the horror!
Posted by Fliss | Posted in General | Posted on 27-08-2010
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For anyone who has never had reader’s block, you are very lucky, and I might well hate you! For the last month I have been feeling distinctly meh, and generally mentally exhausted, with any spare energy I do have going into my search for a job, which sucks, and is incredibly boring, and I just can’t seem to get into the books that I pick up. The only exception has been rereads of Terry Pratchett books, which are the literary equivalent of comfort food to me. As it is, I have three books on the go; the first volume of In Search of Lost Time, Swann’s Way, which I am really enjoying, but just takes too much concentration, a short biography of Tolstoy, which is interesting, but written in a style which I find incredibly irritating, and a collection of Nawal el Saadawi’s writings, which is really interesting, but not something I could read all the way through.
Hopefully, though, as my life starts to get a little more organised, I’ll get my reading mojo back. Until then, however, I’m going to be using this little reading hiatus to try and get my blogging a little bit more up to date, and actually post some reviews, unless anyone else has any ideas on how to get yourself out of a total reading funk?
Oh reader’s block is just horrible! I sometimes find that reading the unexpected helps. I had a bit of a block recently and went to the library, picked up something I would never normally read – a contemporary romance – and raced through it like a fiend. It cleared out all my cobwebs.
Thanks for the suggestion, Victoria! That’s usually what I do, as well, but I think I was a bit wary of taking on yet another book, but I’ve just bought a couple of memoirs – not a genre I usually go for – and I’m tearing through the first of them really quickly. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that this is the last of my reader’s block.
I find the short stories of Somerset Maugham good for this kind of situation. (Take two a day until symptoms disappear.)
Thanks for the recommendation, Rob, I will keep that on mind. I do have some Somerset Maugham on my bookshelves, I believe, but no short stories, so I will keep my eye out for them for future possible bouts. Thankfully, though, a new Terry Pratchett novel and a food memoir seem to have sorted me out for now:0)
I echo Victoria’s suggestion of choosing something that normally you look past as a reader. Something else that’s worked for me is choosing skinny books, say, Muriel Spark or Anita Brookner, good books that read quickly enough to remind me that yes I *can* start *and* finish a book. But hopefully you no longer need such suggestions: sounds like you’re on the way out of your block already!
Touch wood, BIP, but that seems to be the case, and I have finished a few books so far this month already (which I’m counting as making up for lost time), although I am still slowly slogging through the books that originally caused my reader’s block in the first place, as I am determined to finish them all. I also use the skinny book strategy as well if I want to kick start my reading, though, so I’m glad to know I’m not the only one!
I find reading “fluff” books a way to get myself started again. “Fluff” for me would be a romance or a young adult. Just thought I would put my two cents in even though it sounds like you solved your own problem. May the wonderful reading continue.
You’re not the only one who turns to fluff books to break a spell of reader’s block, Erin, as I know a lot of people who do the same. The trouble is, I read a lot of children’s books anyway, which means they are not different enough from my usual fodder to shake me out of the reading doldrums. Still, I’m still doing well on the reading front this month (fingers crossed), so hopefully I’ll be fine for a while yet. Nevertheless, all suggestions are greatly appreciated, and they are all being filed away for future reference!
Ugh. I hate readers blog. I read a lot of heavy nonfiction books, so I run into this probably once a month at least. I recommend light, escapist reading to get you back into the mood. That or just take some time off and get a lot of fresh air. That sometimes helps me too. = )