As many of you recurring readers probably know, I’m the creator and organiser of a book club and if you didn’t know: around 6 months ago I started an online book club where we all read one book per month together at our own pace and then meet up at the end of the month via Google Meets for a lovely, heartwarming chat.
We also have a WhatsApp group where we send messages throughout the month about books, opinions, TikTok videos, book events… it’s great. But, this month a few people have mentioned that they’re in a book slump.
“Book slump”: having no desire to read, not knowing what to read, reading and feeling disappointed or out of it. In other words, a book lover’s worst nightmare.
These periods of not wanting to read or not knowing what to read (I think) are totally normal. We can’t expect to be the same person and feel the same energy and feelings every day, every week, every month, every year. It’s impossible. Therefore, our relationship with reading is going to be affected.
I am quite often in a book slump and my mind’s first reaction is to stress about it. I start getting myself worked up about not meeting my deadline of 3 books a month, I start to get stressed that I bought loads of books to read and they’re just sitting there on my shelf, I start to see that my anual total is going to be less… whatever.
Yeah, I get stressed and yeah, my mind goes off on these crazy turns about not meeting my desired deadline but, guess what? I always end up picking a book back up and getting into it again. My way of dealing with a book slump is to give myself time away from books and I naturally start to miss them again and feel attracted to the idea of reading again.
Another thing I tend to do is carry the book I’m reading with me everywhere I go, even if I don’t open it. I go to sleep and put it next to my bed, I wake up and take it downstairs with me for my breakfast, I go to the terrace and take it with me too… don’t think I’m crazy because I bet you do exactly the same with your phone. Even if I don’t read, my mind is at ease because my books are close by. I know that if I want to, I can read at any moment because I have my book on me.
I also like to read reviews written by other people and see if anything sparks a desire to read inside of me. I browse on online book shops or even on Amazon and fall in love with book covers… I basically don’t forget all about them, I just give myself space away from the action of reading.
When it’s been a few weeks since I’ve read anything, I start to force myself to read a few pages before going to sleep or whilst drinking my coffee outside on the terrace. I remind myself that I’d much rather be reading than pointlessly scrolling on Instagram (this helps me a lot).
All in all, everyone has their own ways of getting out of book slumps and there are probably a hundred different ways to feel motivated again, but the most important thing is to sit with yourself and ask why you don’t feel like reading. I mean, it’s a hobby and you love it, so there must be a reason why you don’t feel like doing your favourite activity. Maybe you’re worried about something going on in your life, maybe you’re stressed and can’t sit and disappear into your book’s world, maybe you have a hundred voices in your mind reminding you of other tasks you need to do, maybe you’re sad, maybe you don’t like the book you’re reading, maybe you’d rather be doing something else, maybe you’re too excited and happy about life to be reading at the moment… only you will know the answer.
Give yourself some time, don’t stress because books will always be there waiting for you (they’re the best companion), don’t worry about deadlines because they’re irrelevant too and listen to what your body is asking you to do.
You love reading, or you like it at least, so you’ll feel the desire to start reading again at some point, whenever you’re ready.
Here’s also a list of books that I really wanna read and maybe you’d like too:
EMILY’S FOREVER GROWING TBR 💘💘💘💘💘💘
*More links:
@pomelobookclub Instagram where you can take a look at the books we’ve read so far and also get in contact if you’d like to join. We read books that are available in both English and Spanish.
LET’S TALK ⬇️
Pomelo is an open letter from me to you and it’s the most fun when I get to read your replies so please, if you have something so say, open a discussion in the comments section.
Or, consider answering some of the following questions:
What do you do to get out of a book slump? Help out your fellow book friends.
If you’ve never read a book do you think we’re all crazy?
Do you live in a constant book slump and hate books? (is that possible?)
Tell us the BEST BOOK YOU EVER READ. go go go go.
When I don't know what to read, it helps me a lot when friends recommend a book for me. Or I get inspired on Instagram by all the great book accounts.
Then I feel like it's easy to get into the book because I know it's going to be great! ✨
Yo cuando estoy de parón (y antes de empezar a agobiarme por ello) suelo terminar yendo a la biblio a por un cómic o novela gráfica que me parezca interesante o simplemente bonita. Me suele funcionar para volver a retomar la rutina 🎈