Tips to break your reading slump
Imagine this - you’ve got your TBR locked and loaded, you’re breezing through titles and then - BAM! - you just can’t get into the book you picked up. You struggle a bit, decide to set it aside and pick up another title, but the same thing happens. You’re officially in a reading rut.
It’s probably not that hard to imagine – we’ve all been there before. As we head into prime adventurous reading time with summer right around the corner, we asked the Old Town Books team for their favorite ways to bust a reading slump.
“Rereads! When I'm stuck and nothing is working for me, I go back to an old favorite, and that gets me right out of the slump” - Kim
“Mysteries!! I don’t normally pick up the genre, but every time I'm in a slump, a whodunnit page turner will bring me back.” - Lane
“Reading takes a lot of effort for me so I tend to not read when I'm in a rut. I try to enjoy other hobbies: movies, writing, cooking, etc., until I find my way back to a book.” - Kai
“Middle grade fantasy. The happiest place to be where things are still full of wonder. They tend to be faster paced and highly readable, all while reminding me why I love reading to begin with.” - Su
“Jane Austen & Historical Romance. When nothing else fits the vibe, I get back to what made me fall in love with reading in the first place.” - Mandi
“If nothing is working for me, I go to the books my colleagues have raved about, especially if multiple colleagues raved about something. Never fails.” - Anna
“A really engaging graphic novel never fails to get me out of a reading rut - providing my brain with a different reading style, and often it's a genre I wouldn't normally pick up!” - Isa
“A shorter novel from a genre I don’t usually read often does the trick for me. Lately, middle grade and YA books have been my slumpbusters!” - Leah
“When I’m in a reading funk, I like to pick up a book by a beloved author. Whether it’s a new title or an old favorite, I usually find reading a book from an author whose writing I love will do the trick.” - Robyn
“Jumping outside of my normal genre. I just finished a couple of heavier lit fic titles (which I typically enjoy!). But I was feeling uninspired, starting and stopping several new reads. So I read an upcoming romance novel that Su raved about (Bad Words), and I finished it in just a day and a half! It was so smart and fun!” - Sarah
“For me it's less a matter of book but format. If I've been reading a lot of physical books I may take a break by switching to audiobooks and vice versa.” - Maeve
“I'm with Maeve! Sometimes I just dont have the time or the mental space to sit down. But I've always got things to do around the house or errands to drive to and an audiobook keeps me reading.” - Kathryn
“I respond well to the promise of treats or prizes, so I recently bought a new reading light that got me back in the habit of reading a physical book at bedtime, because a new toy is always an incredible incentive.” - Cate
“I will bring a very beautiful edition of a new read (preferably hardcover) to a public location (park, coffee shop, on the metro, etc) so I can really lean into that main character energy, which helps me get over the first chapter slump and lock into a new story. (That's how Dua Lipa met her future husband, so anything can happen when you read in public! For me, excellent motivation.)” - Blair