Have you ever found yourself looking at your bookshelves for the next book you are going to read and just feel stumped? I have picked up four or five books in the last two days and have quickly placed them back on the shelf because I just wasn’t feeling a connection at this time. I feel a little lost without a book to read on my nightstand but I have gotten a lot read in my magazine tray on the coffee table.
What do you do when you find yourself with a bad case of “reader’s block”? What is the longest length of time yours has lasted and what was the book that broke the spell?
Goodness, what a question! YES, I have experienced this phenomenon. and I usually pick something up and just can’t get into it so I abandon it. Or I attempt to read more than one book at a time and I am not good at that, either. I think it is just fine to switch it up and read the mags for a change. The longest time I ever went was most of my college years! Since I studied tech stuff, I felt guilty reading anything that wasn’t school related. It took me a long time to get back to reading as a hobby.
There are two: the first is John Grisham’s The Firm that I read on a plane many years ago. It got me back into reading for pleasure after high school/college. The other is Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See, our first book club pick. I’ve been a reading machine since picking up that book last March.
I have certainly experienced a book drought; unfortunately, I cannot remember how long it lasted and what broke the spell. During that time, I got into other things like watching movies, reading magazines, knitting and then a book found its way back into my hands when the time was right.
The longest time I ever went without reading was when I was pregnant. I had terrible morning sickness for three months and I just didn’t feel like reading at all (which is so unlike me). After my daughter was born I immediately picked up a book – weird, huh!