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I am in a reading rut. Perhaps a reading funk even. As much as I love books there are days where whatever book I try on just doesn't fit. I picked up a YA novel but I've read so much YA in the past year that I'm almost tired of it (don't worry, this feeling will pass in a day or two I promise). I picked up the contemporary fiction novel that so many bloggers are raving about but I didn't even get past the first paragraph before I set it aside. I want to read but nothing is pulling me in. Books have abandoned me and I'm in a proper funk about it.
Realistically I know it's not the fault of any of the books that I've picked up. Just sometimes we all get in a funk and the things we normally love just won't work for us. It happens to all of us. The Eclectic Granny is in a reading rut now. Kris at The Reading Spot was in one earlier this year. It just happens and it's annoying as heck.
My solution was a reread. I love to reread books but there never seems to be enough time for it when every day there are more and more books being published. But there is comfort in rereading books - a familiarity of revisited characters, people and places and knowing exactly how it's going to work out in the end. No surprises. No red herrings. Just sweet, pure comfort. And when you have stacks of library books and new acquisitions staring at you it feels almost downright rebellious. I guess that somedays I just need that mixture of comfort and rebellion.
Rereading also worked for NotABlogger who writes at Reasons Not to Blog. She was in a reading rut earlier this year and rereading some of her favourites knocked her out of her funk. She described how unsettling it is for a reader to be in a reading rut perfectly I think.
A reading rut is a terrible experience if you love to read. For me, reading is my escape, my pleasure, my relaxation. If it suddenly becomes uninteresting... well, it's like not wanting to eat anymore! What do you do if someone looses their appetite? You stop worrying about what's "good" food and start making their favorites, hoping something will work.
Revisiting favourites isn't the solution for all readers in a funk. Amy at RCL Reads had a chick-lit recommendation from a friend to release her from her reading rut.
I’m not saying I would like to be stuck on a desert island with only chick lit, but it was nice to be bumped out of my rut and enjoy something new.
Sometimes length helps as well. Sometimes a book that can be digested in smaller chunks is the key, like a book of essays or short stories. That's what works for Lisa at the Eleventh Stack.
Cabin fever has set in and lately I can’t seem to stay very attentive for more than five minutes. Every time this happens, I find immediate mitigation from a short story collection. A few weeks ago I started reading The Book of Other People edited by Zadie Smith. Teeming with some of my favorite contemporary authors, it turns out Jonathan Lethem and Miranda July were just what I needed to get out of my reading rut.
I'm sure that a day or two from now all those books I tossed aside today will be appealing to me again as will the dozens of other unread books in my stacks. But for tonight I'm going to settle onto the couch with a blanket and a glass of wine and get reaquainted with an old friend.
Contributing Editor Sassymonkey blogs at Sassymonkey and Sassymonkey Reads.
