SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

Does it happen to you? How do you notice it, what are the signs? How do you deal with it? Do those things actually help? Does rereading old favorites work for you or is it just something to do while you're suffering? Or do you take a complete break from reading and do other things until you feel like reading again?

I thought I knew all the tricks, but maybe I'm missing an important tool from my Reading Slump Vanquishing Kit. What's in your RSVK?

Going outside helps me. Also re-reading old favorites.

Sometimes I find that taking a bit of a break helps, but TV isn't usually the best solution because that can become addictive (not that I never watch it, of course). Yes, going outside can be good. Also, being physically active helps unless you have a health reason why you can't -- bodies are not designed to be sedentary and it can be really easy to get that way, especially in winter.

Other things that help are

a. listening to a good audiobook while outside, driving or doing things
b. trying something different
c. stepping back from GR for a set time or reducing it--since you're a mod I would say reduce overall time if you need to. When I have been a moderator I couldn't stop, obviously. Now I'm only a mod on a private group where we no longer really need much mod work due to changes, but it's one of my more involved groups.
d. stopping all reading challenges and games and only reading what I feel like
e. reducing all screen time

a combination of any or all of the above (perhaps after a break) and other things, but it's been a few years since my last big slump and I can't remember everything I did.

But what doesn't help is beating myself up over it or forcing myself to read when I don't feel like it :)

Yep. Been there most of the spring. Not a zero reading slump, but very not driven to read. I've re-read a couple of things, done some comics via Hoopla but mostly I just don't worry about it. I've had periods before where I don't read much for however long, then something switches and I'm back at it.

This is why I never do challenges, esp those of "read N books this year" I usually read about 75 or so, but reading is a pleasure to me. Not making it a chore and I've seen too many people jam in 5 books in the last 2 weeks of the year just to hit some goal.

I find that rereading something I love helps. I know that doesn't work for those that don't reread, but it works for me. Same for audios. I'll listen to something I love.

I also agree with Rick as well, though. I don't find it that troubling. If I don't feel like reading, it's okay to wait until I do.

I often find that reading non-fiction helps me get out of reading slump - it engages a slightly different part of my brain and helps me keep reading when I just can’t get into a novel.

On top of the other good suggestions so far, I'll toss in one more to try if you have the right circumstances available: read to someone. When my sons were much younger, we read to them every night before bedtime. It was an unmitigated joy that had a spillover effect for me in that my appetite for reading increased dramatically. Consequently, my TBR list exploded and I found myself backing off of other leisure pursuits in favor of more reading. Eventually they began reading on their own, which led to the return of my own reading desires back to typical levels I was used to.

I wouldn't expect this stimulus to work for everybody, but if you're in a position to try it, it might surprise you.

Reading slump? Is that some sort of mythological status like in a fairy tale? I don't think I've ever experienced a lack of desire to read, but maybe I've been cursed by an evil witch with an insatiable desire to read anything (think back of cereal boxes) and everything...

CBR, I think you've been blessed by a fairy godmother :)

dunno, it felt more like a curse back before the digital age when books were never discounts, I was poor, and getting to a library w/o a car was a major excursion... Just having something new to read was a blessing

I have never had a slump, if the definition is several days or weeks. I have found, though, that if I finish a couple books within a day of each other, I tend to get a bit of a book “hangover”. I need to digest the books a bit, I guess.

A lot of the suggestions already made have worked for me (especially not beating myself up about the slump, and having faith that it will come to an end eventually.) Here are a few additional things that have helped me in the past:

-Reading magazines. It is easy to pick the stories and articles you like and not feel bad about the ones you skip. I have a subscription to Uncanny, but I find that I am really bad about reading it. I download the issues on my phone, though, and often read stories here and there when I am in a slump or in between books.

-Listening to short story podcasts. Escape Pod and LeVar Burton Reads are my favorites - lots of great sci fi / speculative fiction content.

-Checking out a big pile of books from the library and letting myself read a chapter or two of each to see which one sparks my interest, with no pressure to continue reading or finish any. I try to pick some from my TBR backlog as well as troll the new books shelf for ideas. Reading in a different genre, which someone else suggested, also helps sometimes.

I think there are different levels of slumpiness, and people maybe also define a slump in various ways. For me it's mostly feeling meh about everything I try to start. Like last night I was trying to choose a new audiobook to play while I try to sleep, and I DNFed six (within the first three minutes) before I gave up. It's just a general lack of excitement for books and reading, nothing to do with the specific books.

Anna wrote: "I think there are different levels of slumpiness, and people maybe also define a slump in various ways. For me it's mostly feeling meh about everything I try to start. Like last night I was trying ..."

That's a slump for me too. I always want to read, but sometimes I just can't get interested in anything.

That happened to me yesterday. I started and set aside three new books. And then I remembered a fourth I had been looking forward to. I marked it as Currently Reading. Then I quit at a whopping 3%. At that point I went in a completely different direction from the books I was trying and decided to re-read a magnificent series dealing with the Napoleonic Wars. But I was really wondering what my problem was ;)

Ruth wrote: "I often find that reading non-fiction helps me get out of reading slump - it engages a slightly different part of my brain and helps me keep reading when I just can’t get into a novel."

I can't concentrate on reading books at all some days, but I can spend hours reading long news articles. It's still reading, but it feels completely different. I never thought to try if a non-fiction book would fool my brain, I should sprinkle a few around the house and see if I gravitate towards them.

(My brain is very sneaky though, it *knows* when I'm trying to fool it, and makes sure I don't succeed.)

Kaia wrote: "I have a subscription to Uncanny, but I find that I am really bad about reading it."

I started a whole challenge a couple of years ago because I was so behind on my Uncanny reading :D (I still am.)

Kandice wrote: "I always want to read, but sometimes I just can't get interested in anything."

This is exactly it. I often wish there was a machine that would scan my brain and tell me the book it needs right now :D It's so much work trying to figure out what mood I'm in. And as a result I'll often avoid all the books I tried to start, because I associate them with that meh feeling, even though I know I didn't even get past the first paragraph.

Michelle wrote: "I marked it as Currently Reading. Then I quit at a whopping 3%."

I've stopped marking things as currently reading until I've finished the book :D I feel like it's almost guaranteed I'll hate the book if I mark it.

*eyes bug out at you slump-less wonders*

I'm finally starting to recover from one of my worst slumps in years. Months went by without reading anything.

For me I define a slump as when I want to be reading, but can't. (As opposed to just taking a break to binge a TV show or get swept up in real life adventures.) It may be depression or stress, but the focus isn't there. I was in the middle of an amazing series when this latest one struck, so it has nothing to do with the quality of the books.

The solution? If the reason is simply that I'm feeling restless and picky and nothing fits, then rereading old favorites has helped - even if only my favorite scenes. Unfortunately when real-life stress is the culprit, part of it is just time, waiting for things to settle down. Sometimes I pick a top-shelf reserve novel that I've been letting age for the right moment. Then other times... Well, in the same way that when I'm depressed I want to eat junk food and watch B movies, I read a bunch of trashy romance. Comforting predictable storylines feed the happy chemicals.

Oh, also I've been known to filter my to-read list by shortest page length. Sometimes just getting a novella finished is enough to get that achievement dopamine rush, and to prevent stalling completely.

Anna wrote: "I've stopped marking things as currently reading until I've finished the book :D I feel like it's almost guarantee..."

I do this, too, sometimes - especially if I start a book, and I’m not sure about it, or if I feel meh about everything I pick up.

Anna wrote: “I started a whole challenge a couple of years ago because I was so behind on my Uncanny reading :D (I still am.)”

I’m glad I’m not the only one! Because I really don’t think I will ever get caught up at this point. :-D

Melissa wrote: "Oh, also I've been known to filter my to-read list by shortest page length. Sometimes just getting a novella finished is enough to get that achievement dopamine rush, and to prevent stalling completely...."

Short stories can definitely help me. Even when I'm not having trouble getting interested in something I will use them as "palate cleansers."

Here are a few ideas.

1. If you are reading multiple books, try focusing on one of them to get a flow going.

2. Do not be afraid to DNF or suspend reading a particular book and move to something more exciting to you.

3. Read the first sentence or paragraph of the next 10-30 books on your TBR list. When you reach one that makes you think, "I've got to find out what happens next!", then make that your next book pick.

4. Talk to a librarian or bookstore owner about what they are reading, or use a tool like Novelist Plus to find new book ideas.

5. Look back to your last five-star read, and think about why that book worked so well for you. Use that as a branching out point to try to pick something similar.

Melissa wrote: "Well, in the same way that when I'm depressed I want to eat junk food and watch B movies, I read a bunch of trashy romance. Comforting predictable storylines feed the happy chemicals."

This worked very well for me for a couple of years, but I'm so done with romance now, almost all of it annoys me. I do still start lots of them, but most of it gets DNFed. When I find one that works, it really does work :)

Right now I'm listening to so many mystery/thrillers, and they all blend into one and after three days I couldn't tell you if I read that one or not. It's very rare that any of them surprise me in any way, so I mostly choose based on audio narrators whose voice I like.

Brandon wrote: "Read the first sentence or paragraph of the next 10-30 books on your TBR list."

I've actually been thinking of doing a sort of "try a chapter" with some of the books on my Storytel shelf. I add everything that sounds even a little bit interesting, and that means I have hundreds of books on there, and seeing them all every day makes me less excited about them.

edit: When I talk about DNFing in this thread, it's really DNSing. I still don't DNF books I've properly started.

edit2: And sometimes it's a hard DSQ XD

Rick had a good point about approaches that turn play into work. Even the idea that you should be reading instead of doing something else could drain the fun out of it. For your leisure time, you may as well follow whatever is currently giving you joy, and you may or may not come back to reading as much as you once did.

That's very true. I thought I'd eliminated as much of that as I could, because I am very guilty of doing exactly that, but maybe I still have work to do on that front.

That said, I'm totally OK with not reading when I don't feel like reading. It's when I want to read but nothing interests me that it starts to suck.

To clarify, I didn't start this thread to talk about *my* reading slumpiness, I meant it as a general discussion about reading slumps :) It was my particularly annoying evening that inspired me to finally start it.

For me what usually works is pretty much the same stuff everyone has said:

- Change something (genre, format, location, etc.)
- Go back to something familiar (rereads, retellings, sequels)
- Lower the threshold (short fic, kids' books, graphic novels, etc.)
- Do something else

And perhaps counter-intuitively, a new challenge will always inspire me to read more :) I suspect it's because I'm forced to find books that fit certain prompts, ie. "something new", not the same ones I've been staring at for weeks/months. And of course I'm always interested in the library book that's on hold, but not the ones that are immediately available :D

It sounds to me as if you're currently sick of cliches and reading yet another version of the same story you've already read a thousand times, so maybe you're longing for something different and more sophisticated? You could try something literary/historical (my personal favorites being Beasts of a Little Land, Wolf Hall, The Luminaries, or whatever just bowls you over from page 1 with its prose)... Or an old classic you've always wanted to try.

Or maybe you're feeling down and would like something magical, fast-paced and cute, so you could try middle-grade books, e.g. The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, The Trials of Morrigan Crow, Percy Jackson, Harry Potter-rereads, etc.

Good luck in finding something you like again! We root for you!

This sounds weird but try another creative outlet. (Writing, painting, drawing, maybe a video game).

By the time I was done with that activity/project I was more than ready to be inspired by a good story.

I know you probably didn’t mean it that way, and I personally don’t mind, but please be careful about diagnosing people with depression 😊 (Who isn’t feeling down what with the world being a giant trash fire.)

And yes, I am reading the same old over and over again because it’s easier than trying to figure out what the heck I really want to read 😅

edit: Sarah, yes! I actually do some of those things while audiobooking to help with concentration, and wanting to get back to those things helps motivate me to hurry up and pick a book 😄

To emphasize the point i made above... you don't need to try anything. If you don't feel like reading, don't force it. If you feel like reading only short stuff, do that. Comics? Do that. Re-read faves you've re-read 5x before? Perfectly fine.

There are a couple of books I really want to get to (Viriconium and Senlin Ascends) and I will. But WHEN I will... is open.

What others do is for them. What I do (and what I'd say each of you should do) is precisely what you want. There are enough pressures in the world over things we have to do. Don't make reading another of those.

Thanks everyone! 😊 I really didn’t mean to make this about my current meh feels, but a general chat about reading slumps! Let’s continue talking about things without concentrating on me 😳

Anna wrote: "... I started a whole challenge a couple of years ago because I was so behind on my Uncanny reading :D (I still am.)...."

Thanks for that. I've just about caught up on Uncanny podcasts. I'm not doing as well on the issues.

Sometimes I'm just not interested in the commitment that my brain imagines a longer piece would require. That's usually at least partly the reason for my dissatisfaction when it involves DNSing multiple books.

If that's behind my inability to get into a book shorter fiction can help. Sometimes, for me, it takes a switch to non-fiction or waiting for a new book from a favorite author.

To be clear my second post wasn't really about you specifically but about anyone in a slump. I know folks who say 'you could do X' are trying to be helpful, but it's fine to not read (or not read much or not read certain kinds of things) for awhile.

Now, Anna, about you....

Haha Rick I know! I was just starting to feel a bit like I wanted to delete the thread so that people would stop talking to me 😂

Raucous, yep, no problems listening to Uncanny podcasts, but somehow the issues never get read 🙁

I found trying a book I'd been putting off forever because i thought I didn't want to read it as boost. In my case it was The Hanging Artist by Jon Steinhagen. I didn't think a book from Kafka as the hero with Gregor the giant cockroach as a sidekick would be any good. However, it is = magical realism like a cross between The Master and Margarita and a mystery novel.

Oops, I didn't mean it that way, just meant it as a synonym for feeling down and wanting to read something uplifting, so sorry it came out wrong!

So, in general, when I'm in a reading slump and don't want to be, I read Middle-Grade, YA, or switch genres entirely.

CBRetriever wrote: "Reading slump? Is that some sort of mythological status like in a fairy tale? I don't think I've ever experienced a lack of desire to read, but maybe I've been cursed by an evil witch with an insat..."

^^Also me...

I often like to slump into a chair and read. It's been too long since I went more than three days without reading for me to claim I suffer with the more common interpretation of a reading slump. Though I did classify those periods as slumps in my mind until I read this thread.

Ryan wrote: "I often like to slump into a chair and read. It's been too long since I went more than three days without reading for me to claim I suffer with the more common interpretation of a reading slump. Th..."

It puts things into perspective 😁

Anna wrote: "I think there are different levels of slumpiness, and people maybe also define a slump in various ways. For me it's mostly feeling meh about everything I try to start. Like last night I was trying ..."

Oh Anna, I've been there so many times. Especially since last year. This year I DNFed five books and felt a bit down coz many books from my fave authors/sequels of series I follow were disappointing.

I tried short stories which kind of worked (though I almost DNFed some of them too LOL) and then tried to read old faves (also kinda worked since you're used to the world and know what to expect, and can skip skip to your fave POVs/parts). BUT I guess accepting I am in slump and be okay with it, is okay too.

Eva wrote: "I didn't mean it that way, just meant it as a synonym for feeling down"

I know! It's one of the things that I struggle with in Finnish vs. English. We have a word for "being depressed" without it meaning clinical depression, and no English equivalent feels right. That's why I figured you probably meant that thing :) (The same is true for feeling anxiety, Finnish has a simple word for something making a person feel anxious, and saying it in English is very complicated. The closest is 'distressing' but it's not *exactly* right :D)

Ryan wrote: "It's been too long since I went more than three days without reading for me to claim I suffer with the more common interpretation of a reading slump."

My slumps sometimes last a couple of hours. It's very subjective! :D

Silvana wrote: "Especially since last year."

Yep, the past few years haven't helped anything :S

Karin wrote: "d. stopping all reading challenges and games and only reading what I feel like"

Sometimes I paint myself into a corner with group and buddy reads, leaving me no leeway to do my own thing. This inevitably will lead to a slump as I crawl through the "assignment" book/s and give longing looks to literally everything else on my TBR. :D

DivaDiane wrote: "I have found, though, that if I finish a couple books within a day of each other, I tend to get a bit of a book “hangover”."

I think Diane has a good bead on one potential cause of my own slumps. Getting to the end of, for example, an audio and an eye read on the same day can somehow make any TBR on my shelf, even if it's a 200-page YA, look like an insurmountable obstacle.

Some of my temp fixes:
- Reading comics, usually manga, sometimes not. I have never had a comics reading slump. Eventually I'll get tired of them, though, and want to read something more substantial.
- a semi-recent suggestion by a friend that's worked pretty well: reading a coffee table book. The combination of pictures and lightly presented information can be a nice breather. (Having a physical one to page through is a pleasure all its own and I don't recommend reading these in digital form.)
- Unfortunately I'm not a great short story or poetry reader, but Kaia's suggestion in message 12 of articles or other shorter material is good, I think.

In general for me I guess, novels are the worst thing to attempt in a slump, and trying to force myself into choosing one when brain is in a fidgetty apt-to-be-dissatisfied mood is never a good idea.

Eva wrote: "Good luck in finding something you like again! We root for you!"

This, for everybody! :)

Anna wrote: "I think there are different levels of slumpiness, and people maybe also define a slump in various ways. For me it's mostly feeling meh about everything I try to start. Like last night I was trying ..."

Same for me.

One thing I forgot to mention is that sometimes I find myself a little slumpy and think that maybe it's best if I just listen to some mediocre stuff I'm not really interested in while I wait for the slump to be over. What I don't necessarily realize is that the slump is because I'm reading mediocre stuff I'm not really interested in :D So on occasion, even though it feels like I can't muster an ounce of reading enthusiasm, starting a "harder" or "more important" book is exactly what I need. For example, I sometimes fall into a YA pit, and it's lots of fun there for a while, but then I start feeling like I'm so bored all the time and if I can't even concentrate on YA, how can I even think about reading a serious adult book? But when I start one it's like how amazing are books?! XD

Prior to 2021, I was in and out of a reading slump. It was awful. I found little satisfaction in reading my favorite genre and started wasting money purchasing eBooks I probably will not be reading. Then I came across a Fantasy Romance novel in 2021. The writing iffy but entertaining especially the fantasy element. I was rejuvenated like a spark plug giving life to a battery. I went from reading romance to fantasy and, science fiction novels. I love it.

When I find myself in a slump, I find something totally different to read.

Beth wrote: "Karin wrote: "Sometimes I paint myself into a corner with group and buddy reads, leaving me no leeway to do my own t..."

Beth, that's how I feel! I think that's why I seldom do buddy reads. I'm too much of a mood reader. So then what did I do? Agreed to three different BRs. One group's BR is for a book that I read 20+ years ago and I didn't care for it then. That was really smart on my part. Another group's BR is a new book that I haven't read, so I hope I'm in the right mood for it! And then the last BR is for this group, and thank goodness that I have always loved that book. I think I must have read it a dozen times.

I do that too. I get more burn out from really long books and need that feeling of accomplishment. It doesn’t seem to be amplified the longer the book, unfortunately.

Anna wrote: "One thing I forgot to mention is that sometimes I find myself a little slumpy and think that maybe it's best if I just listen to some mediocre stuff I'm not really interested in while I wait for th..."

I can totally relate to this, and it's something to keep in mind. I think that during a slump I'll try to lower the threshold to keep up momentum, flitting from a short story to novella, chasing bits of fluff. But reading something meatier would satisfy more.

My satisfying reading happy place is actually the opposite, digging into a series and plowing through an author's works with single-minded focus.

That's why while I love buddy reads, I prefer to hop onto existing ones or do them spontaneously, because I'm such a mood reader. Planning a BR weeks out is doomed to fail because inevitably I'll find myself mid-binge in another series

So yes, limiting BR/Group read overscheduling is also part of Slump Prevention.

I don't exactly have a general reading slump, but I sometimes have reading slumps in certain genres. For example, at the moment I can't really bring myself to read lengthy fantasy novels.

I still have The Girl and the Moon by Mark Lawrence and A Drowned Kingdom by P.L. Stuart lined up, I have even started to read them and I'm pretty sure when I finally manage to continue doing so, I will absolutely love them. But right now, I just can't really get into them and stick to relatively short crime and comedy novels.

What I generally don't do is buddy reads or group reads, at least not on a regular basis. I prefer reading at my own pace and sometimes I even take a break from a longer book and read something else inbetween.

I have reading slumps all the time. I had one for well over 25 years. Reading was like second nature to me when I was younger. Then once I got into my 20s I’d read in bursts of a few months and then back to nothing. And I’d read whatever books the kids were reading (or Hubby would) so they’d be able to discuss them with one of us if they had questions. Didn’t read Twilight though. My daughter discovered the books when the first movie came out. My middle son was in his final year of school and read it instead of us. We did attend every movie with our daughter though. The Twilight movies (especially Twilight and Breaking Dawn 1 and 2) are my guilty pleasures. Yeah they’re crap but they’re great to have on when you don’t want to think of anything. Anyhoo….back to reading slumps…

Last year I was in one long one. This year I was going really well at the start when I was living out west with Hubby and didn’t have much else to do and then slowed down and stopped when I got home. I read novellas and novelettes to get myself reading again and sometimes I will pick up a good kids book. One slump the first year back reading I read a couple of Artemis Fowl books and that got me back on track.