Sunday 11 June 2017

At Home in Slumpsville

Image result for reading booksFirstly, an apology. It's been a while since my last blog post I know. Partly this has been to do with having had a busy few weeks in my real life including a very pleasant but very busy weekend away in Cornwall (it involved mead, good times were had by all). But, if I'm being completely honest, it's also because I've been a fully paid up resident of Slumpsville for the last month or so. 

Yes, the reading slump has paid a visit. For some reason - and I'm never entirely sure why - I've been really struggling to get into anything, fiction or non-fiction. I've tried all of my usual tricks - reading something really pacy, re-reading an old favorite etc etc - and nothing has managed to get my reading mojo back.

For anyone who doesn't read regularly (so, probably not people who are reading this blog, right?!), a reading slump might not seem like a big deal. So what if you've not got a book on the go? But reading is a really important part of my day to day life and not reading majorly messes up my routine. The nature of my day job means a regular lunch break during which to read isn't, alas, a thing in my life any more but I do enjoy reading in the bath (for those of you appalled by the thought of this, see my post of Bookish Confessions!) at the end of a long day and I have, for as long as I can remember, always read immediately before turning out the bedside light and heading off to the land of nod. So not reading really messes with my equilibrium - late night YouTube, computer games and podcasts do not for a good nights sleep make. 

The good news is that, fingers crossed, I seem to be breaking the back of the slump a little. I took the drastic step of taking a couple of weeks off reading and all things reading related (hence no recent blog posts!). As a result the sense that I should be reading has lifted a little. It's odd but sometimes I feel so pressured to read (either because I want to have something to blog about, because my TBR has reached mountainous proportions or because I'm reading to a deadline for review or for book club) that it takes the joy out of doing it. Instead I've been playing my PS4, listening to music, writing a bitand listening to podcasts - just giving myself permission to have a bit of a reading break basically. And you know what? I miss reading. I miss that moment when I settle down with my book at the end of the day and cosy up for the evening. Some time away is drawing me back and I've begun to look at my bookshelves again with excitement.

My plan now is to capitalise on this. I usually have an immediate TBR next to my bed - books that are due back to the library, books that I need to read for some purpose or deadline, or recently purchased books. And sometimes, just sometimes, I feel that pile traps me into reading the books I think I have to as opposed to what takes my fancy. So I've got rid of the pile and gone back to my shelves to pull out some titles that just appeal. My plan is to curl up with them and read the first few pages of each then read the book that most appeals after that. It's an idea called 'Try A Chapter' that I first saw on Simon Savidge's YouTube channel that seems just perfect for narrowing down a TBR and deciding on your next book. Hopefully it'll mean I'm on the next train out of Slumpsville at any rate. 

I'll let you know how I get on in the next post - which will hopefully be soon! In the meantime, if you have any tips to help me finish off this reading slump, I'd very much appreciate them. You can tweet me @amyinstaffs, leave me a comment down below or come say hi over on Goodreads. And, until the next time...

Happy Reading! x