How To Break A Reading Slump

The reading slump. Every bookworm's worst nightmare.

You sit in front of your bookcase and feel slowly suffocated by the pristine spines and untouched pages. No matter how hard you try every time you pick up a book you just can't read. You're not invested, you aren't enjoying the story or you just can't sit down and concentrate for long enough to read. 

We've all been there! 

So hang on in and read my top tips to break a reading slump! 

1. Write yourself a list of reading goals - 

Sometimes you need a list of goals to get you feeling motivated and ready to take on reading again. This can often help you decide what you actually want out of reading as well and help you to look at it with a fresh head. I like setting goals on the amount of books, genre, and readathons to keep me interested! 

2. Switch up your genres - 

Perhaps you've been reading YA for a solid year and you're just not feeling it, or maybe you've been reading a tonne of classics for School/College/Uni and you're struggling to find the will to live let alone read! Sometimes switching up genres is all you need to do to regain some motivation!

3. Set yourself a TBR list - 

I like to set myself a TBR list at the beginning of the month to keep me on target with my reading. Sometimes it can be a hindrance but if I'm not feeling one of the books that I've chosen at the beginning of the month then I will try something else. I use it as a guideline rather than a strict rule to adhere to. (My September TBR is here)

4. Take a break - 

Occasionally the best way to deal with a reading slump is to just ignore it altogether. Take some time out from reading. Do something else you enjoy whether it be writing, drawing, painting, binge watching telly or playing the sims. Once you start to miss reading go back to it and see if you can get into it again! 

5. Choose by chance - 

One of my favourite options when I've hit a slump. Quite often once I've finished a book I find it really difficult to choose another to read and I sometimes pick up a book and feel almost guilty for not picking up something that's been sitting on my shelf longer. This is entirely my fault as I have about 70-80 unread books on my shelves at the moment and I keep prioritising new releases because I'm a slave to the hype. So what I like to do, when I can't choose a book, I have a mug filled with the names of each unread novel folded onto an individual piece of paper. That way I can choose a piece of paper at random, totally blind, and pick my next read! This totally eliminates the guilt factor and adds an element of surprise! I also find I get to read books I probably would have otherwise ignored. 

I hope these tips have helped you if you're in a reading slump! Sometimes all it takes is a good book but often you need to implement some strategies to break that unproductive cycle!