We’ve all been there. You finish an AMAZING book and then the next ones don’t quite live up to the glory of that awesome book. Or the opposite happens: you read a string of not-so-great books and you’re feeling pretty terrible. Before long, nothing seems to pique your interest. What do you do? Do you cry in your pillow? Do you run around screaming frantically?
Here are some tips for getting over a book slump. I hope you find them helpful! Let me know what you usually do if you’re in an abyss of bookish darkness.
Ask Your Friends
Getting recommendations from friends is huge for me. Whether that friend is a blogger or not, I am constantly picking my friends’ brains on books. “Have you read this? Have you read that? Would I like it? What did you think of it?”
Your friends will not pull any B.S. with you and will give it to you straight.
Ask a Blogger You Trust
There are some awesome bloggers out there who will have great recommendations for you. For example, my friend Hildy has pretty diverse tastes so I will stalk her to see what she thought of certain books. For me, it’s important to go to a blogger who shares similar tastes and who I trust. Who are some of your favorite blogger/reviewers?
Reread some of your favorites
I’m so bad at this. I reread things all the time, but it always seems to help me when I’m either not in the mood to start something new or I need to cleanse my reading palette.
Switch up genres
Do you read a lot of the same genre or subgenre? Are you feeling like everything is the same? Try switching it up? For example, you might read a ton of new adult contemporary. Try reading urban fantasy or even try reading a young adult novel. Step outside of what you normally read and that might break your book funk.
Remember the Backlists
As a blogger, it’s easy to get bogged down in the “right now” and upcoming releases. You are constantly getting emails about new books and the books that you don’t get through can get lost in the shuffle. Go through authors’ backlist and read some of the books you put on your to-read list years ago. Try that! Sometimes reading a book that came out even six months ago is a nice way to switch it up, especially after all the publicity for a book kind of dies down.
Edelweiss is mostly for librarians and booksellers. But it’s also a great resource for you to search through publishers’ catalogs and see what’s up next. But you can also look at the backlist catalogs! It’s completely free to sign up. If you are a reviewer, you can even request digital review copies (like Netgalley). I spend a lot of time on there just perusing through the catalogs because it’s so much fun!
Did you miss a book release? Here are some of my book release archives:
Go to the Library
The library is a great source to find books you may have missed. The librarians will have the all the information you need. Tell them what you want and I bet they’ll have something for you. Often times, librarians will be more knowledgeable than bloggers about new releases. They get access to early copies just like bloggers. Don’t forget about your local library!
One more tip: take advantage of your local eLibrary! I use mine all the time when there are books that I am reluctant to buy due to the price point. 🙂
Browse the lists
Everyone knows about the New York Times Best Sellers List and the USA Today list. But there are other lists and awards lists that you should check out. Here are just a few:
- Alex Award List
- Printz Award List
- School Library Journal Best Books of the Year
- The National Book Award List
- Amazon Editors’ Picks: Best Books of: 2014 | 2015 | 2016 so far
- Wall Street Journal Best Sellers List
These are just a few of the award and best sellers lists. The next time you’re looking for something different, consider checking out one of these.
Explore your Kindle
I know I’m not the only one who has a TON of books sitting pretty on my Kindle just waiting to be read. Look through your eReader and go in completely blind. 🙂
I hope that helps! Let me know your suggestions for escaping the reading funk in the comments!
