Boom or Bust
For awhile there, this was starting to look like a book blog…I had so many book reviews, and I was just tearing through books at an alarming rate. I love reading, and I like writing the reviews, so this seemed like a good thing to me.
But lately….not reading so much. You might think that with the writers’ strike affecting the quantity of new programming on television, and the fact that we didn’t move meaning I’m not quite as addicted to HGTV (though now I’m watching for ideas of how to fix our place up for us, not how to get it ready to sell), plus the fact that I just had 2 weeks off from work, that I would have torn through several books by now. Nope. I guess I’m in a ‘not so much reading’ slump.
Is it me? Or is it the books I’ve chosen? I’m not sure. I picked up “Never Let Me Go“, a book I’ve been looking forward to reading for quite awhile now, but, well, I couldn’t get into it, so I’ve shelved it for now. I’ll come back to it later, and see if it grabs me then. Sometimes that happens. Next, I turned to “The Inheritance of Loss“, and while I’m enjoying it, it’s not enough to cause me to ignore the siren song of our 90210 and Big Love DVDs.
I think it’s me…I seem to go through periods when it’s all reading, all the time. I read while I watch TV, I read while I cook dinner, sometimes while I walk the dog, though really, not too safe with a dog. Very distracting. During these times, I can’t wait to get back to my book, and even find the distractions of everyday life to be somewhat annoying. (Work? You want me to do work? Hell, I could be reading!) Other times, like now, I have to be almost bored, with nothing else to do, before I pick up a book or a magazine article.
How about you? If you’re a reader, is it consistent, or does it come and go, in fits and starts?
18 Comments
ML
My reading habits are come and go in fits and starts. Weird, huh? I guess sometimes I like to take a break or something.
Angie
It completely comes and goes.
My family laughs at me b/c all of a sudden I’ll do nothing but read – and I mean nothing – no dinner, no laundry, nothing.
Then just as quickly as it came, it’s gone. Right now I’m in a slump. I’ve tried to pick up several books and just can’t get into them. I guess it’s your frame of mind, maybe.
Try to enjoy it while it’s around – there is nothing like curling up with a book that you can’t put down.
bibliomom
I too wax and wane in my reading. Lately I’ve been preoccupied with some happy, wonderful life stuff and I haven’t been reading as much as I sometimes do. I’m about ready to dive into it again though. There are times when reading is a life preserver for my sanity. I slide into a book to help keep me afloat.
Maya's Granny
I used to be consistent. Reading all the time. Now it comes and goes. If I’m reading something non-fiction, it may go in the middle of the book, but that’s what I want to read when it comes again.
kookiejar
Looks like is something we all go through, J~. After my last torrid book love affair, I was ruined for all other books for about 7 weeks! That was a terrible stretch. I’m mostly over it now, but I still have my moments. 🙂
Starshine
Reading is a total ebb and flow thing with me, too.
Nance
I hated Never Let Me Go. I thought it was terrible and that the “payoff” was weak and disengaging. Being a creative writing teacher makes me a very hyper-critical reader of fiction, I realize. I’m subconsciously picking apart the structure and style as I go. It’s a big reason that I read nonfiction almost exclusively now. I will, however, recommend heartily Follett’s “Pillars of the Earth” and its sequel “World without End” as well as Niffenegger’s “The Time Traveller’s Wife” as two excellent novels.
I sort of have to be “ready to read.” I get new books and let them sit for weeks because once I start, I read voraciously. Then when they’re over, I almost go into a mourning period if the book was good. And since I only buy hardbacks, it gets expensive if I go on a reading tear. So I have to be careful! Looks like all of us readers go in fits and starts, or “jags.”
J
Nance, I LOVED The Time Traveller’s Wife, so maybe I’ll try Pillars of the Earth next. 🙂 Thanks for the suggestion.
I kind of know the secret of Never Let Me Go, and I wonder if that’s clouding my enjoyment. At least, I know part of it…
Gina
Definitely fits and starts. It all depends on what I can get my hands on at the library.
Py Korry
Totally in fits and starts. It’s such a great feeling when a book really grabs you, but boy it’s a slog when it doesn’t. Right now I’m kind of skimming through “The Sparrow,” but that’s gotta go on “Hold,” because I have to finish a book on happiness – but you already knew that. 🙂
H
I was wondering if it was just me. Lately I don’t have the patients to read. If I do read the book or article, it better be interesting and too the point. I’m reading more magazines as the article are short and usually have a point. I’m finding I’m really enjoying reading blogs.
CuriosityKiller
Obviously, I’m not an epic reader like you, but I do love reading in bulks. I would read 3 or 4 books at the same time… but sometimes, when the book doesn’t satisfy my curiosity, I just start slacking off.
I also find being an adult, we’ve very distracted with responsibilities and work, doesn’t often put me in the reading mode. A book really have to grab my attention before I could get around to it.
C
Excellent post, J. I’m a reader. Literature is one of my first loves. I read mostly Classics, but some modern fiction too. My bookcase holds some of my most beloved treasures. However, I’ve found that in the past few years, I haven’t been reading as much as I used to. I’d like to read more than I do now. I used to be able to read two or three 200+ page novels a week before. Now I’m lucky if I get one book read a month! I really ought to make more time for reading. It just seems that so much gets in the way these days…which is sad.
BTW, Ken Follett’s “Pillars of the Earth” is one of my favourites. So is Jean Auel’s “Clan of the Cave Bear”. Oh, “Call it Sleep”, “Woman Warrior”, “Eve’s Tattoo”, and “The Famished Road”, and “Lives of the Saints” were also good reads!
P.S. Can I tell you how fascinated I am about the whole Big Love series??? I am addicted!
C
I need to get the Big Love DVDs, because I’ve only watched a handful of the episodes!
lalunas
I’m in a reading slump too, I have a great book from the library, but cannot take the time to read it. So sad. Must be something in the air. But the wind will blow it out…
Eric Grubbs
I’m always reading books, but some excite me more than others. Right now I’m on a roll after reading All Over But the Shouting, I’m on Born Standing Up and shall read Schulz and Peanuts next.
jeri
Ah…the ebb and flow…so unpredictable and yet when I am in an ebb I am a bit bummed that nothing has caught my imagination or interest. And well who can resist the siren call of Big Love…I got hooked this year. Yet, none of this stops me from continually ordering and picking up books so that there is always something new on the book pile for when that need strikes.
MsMamma
I wish I had your gumption. I feel like I’ve been brain dead for quite a few years now. I remember picking up a book you read and I’ve never even touched it. I have the book Middlesex in my office… I buy books and don’t read them…well except for TTYL in PK’s summer teen book challenge. Blech.