If you’re not familiar with the term “reading slump,” it basically refers to a period of time where you just can’t bring yourself to read a single book. A lot of avid readers will fall into a reading slump from time to time where you may have been downing 20 books in a month and now you just can’t seem to finish half a book. Well, I actually went through a pretty rough and long reading slump that lasted–no joke–four years total. And I was someone that used to be that “I read a book in a day” type of person. As a kid, I would read ALL the time and I hated not having a new book with me. Well, for this post, I want to talk about how I broke my insanely long reading slump and how I learned to love to read books again.
(affiliate disclaimer: some of the links in this post are affiliate links which means that I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you when you purchase something through my links).
My Reading Background
Before I get into my story, I just want to briefly talk about me as a reader. Obviously, you all know me as an author and that I write books (psst, check out my series, The Fallen Age Saga while you’re here). As with most writers, I also love to read books. When I was younger, my favorite day in school was when the Scholastic Book Fair came because I wanted to literally buy every book. A fun trip for me was to my local Barnes & Noble chain. At Costco, my first location was the book section, you know what I’m saying? I had a huge basket of books next to my bed so I could always read before falling asleep. I took my books everywhere and I’d sometimes try to get away with reading at dinner.
Obviously, it’s safe to assume that I am an avid, obsessed reader.
Growing up, I loved books like Percy Jackson and The Hunger Games. I was around the end of elementary school when the whole YA dystopian craze started to kick in and I got really bored of that really quickly. I never really had a genre preference, I would pretty much read just about anything. I was really into sci-fi and I had a bit of a thriller phase at one point in my life, but I tended to gravitate towards sci-fi and fantasy the most of any genre.
I loved going to the library and reading books. I loved buying books. The idea of searching for books and discovering new books was something fun for me. However, when I entered my first year of university, my love for reading just sorta vanished a bit.
Want to learn about world building? Start here → The ULTIMATE Beginner’s Guide to World-Building: Basics and More!
The Reading Slump Origins
That title sounds way more dramatic than it should, but why not? In any case, my first year of university came and I was really just in a bored mood a lot. I wasn’t super happy with my major at the time and I wasn’t really feeling like studying much and I sorta just slipped into watching a lot of YouTube and Netflix, which led to me pushing the reading stuff aside because most of my freetime was spent watching videos rather than reading books.
I was also finding myself a bit bored with reading, which was definitely weird. I instead opted to write books rather than read, and that habit seemed to continue for some time.
And then, of course, we got the good ol’ pandemic.
Lockdown Days
You’d think that during the COVID-19 lockdowns, I’d have started reading again, right? Right?? Well… you know, the conditions were perfect. Staying at home all day. No classes for the summer. Nothing to do. But no, I didn’t really feel like reading much at all.
I never picked up any of the books that sat in my bookshelf and I instead found myself getting into video games instead. The video game obsession has lasted since and I still play video games all the time, so that was nice, but I wasn’t really reading books at all. I was still writing books and it was actually during the lockdown that I wrote Malware, which has dramatically changed since I first wrote it, but still, I wasn’t reading books.
I was now in a full-fledged reading slump and I wasn’t really thinking about it. I just didn’t want to read books and I didn’t really care to read much at all. I was having fun playing on my gaming laptop and I was enjoying my time watching more Netflix than I ever could’ve anticipated possible, and I didn’t really want to read anything.
That continued for the entire period of the lockdown and pretty much the entire period of the pandemic. I just didn’t read books. Between online university, switching my major, playing video games, work, and the lockdown, I just didn’t feel like reading any books.
There came one year where I actually ended up buying some books, notably Thirteen, which is a thriller about a serial killer who is on the jury for the trial of a murder he committed. I actually devoured that book in one day, which after not reading for maybe three years by then was crazy.
But alas, that didn’t really stick. I finished that book and then after that, I was still in my dreaded reading slump. It definitely helped begin to break the slump, but I just wasn’t that motivated to read yet.
Until one day.
University Lecture Boredom
I admit that I never pay attention in lectures and now that I am graduated, I say this very plainly. I am the type of person that does not pay attention in class. I cannot for the life of me pay attention and half the time, I don’t want to pay attention in class. Ever.
Well, I was in a lecture and I was bored. I didn’t want to type my stories up on my iPad because… well… I type relatively quickly and it gets really loud in a decently quiet lecture hall. So, I had to find something else to do. And something fast.
That was when I opened the Books app on my iPad and saw that there was a book in it called The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson. I wasn’t sure what happened, but it was like a spark. I remembered that book being given away at one point for Apple users so I just opened it and started reading.
And by the end of the lecture, I had slammed through a huge part of the book.
After that, I was reading this book everywhere. On the metro. On the train. In class. At home. On the bus. I was absolutely enamored with how amazing this book was and how beautiful the world building was.
And that was it. The book that broke the reading slump. After that, I started getting my love for reading back again. I started buying books from bookstores. Buying eBooks. Reading constantly and endlessly. I read more books this year than I have in four years, which is wild.
How I Found my Love for Reading Again
I think the reason why I found my love for reading again isn’t necessarily the fact that The Way of Kings is such a good book, though it really is. I think it’s mostly due to the fact that I realized just how much reading used to excite me when I was younger. I got flashbacks to the days when I’d stay up well past my bedtime (because who actually abides by bedtimes???) and I would be reading. I remembered hauling books around to class and reading in any time I had free in the day. I remembered the wonder I felt when I walked into Barnes & Noble and I remembered just how much I loved to read books.
Even with video games, I always gravitated towards games with really compelling and interesting stories. I play multiplayer games, but a good story-driven game is a big deal for me too and I really like them.
I remembered that books were always something that I loved. I found joy and passion in being able to read new books all the time and if I really liked a book, it would stick with me forever. That’s why I still remember The Catcher in the Rye to this day and I find a real love for that book. It’s why I remember The Hunchback of Notre Dame and other amazing stories I read before I got into my reading slump.
I think all it took for me was to remember the joy of reading and to find a book with a story that appealed to that joy of reading.
If you’re going through a slump yourself, I think what you need to do is step back and think about why you enjoy reading books. You should think about your favorite books and how they made you feel. Look for books like those books you loved so much. Try to get yourself to read. Don’t let that slump go on longer. It’s almost like writer’s block: you need a break sometimes, but other times, all it takes is a good book and it’ll really change your current mood.
As of writing this post, I’m reading a book called The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie and this has to be one of my favorite books I’ve read in a long time so far. I also have a long TBR for 2024 and I’ve so far only read 11 books this year, but considering that I read 3 books in 2023, 2 books in 2022, 1 book in 2021, and no books in 2020, I’d say this is an improvement for sure.
Before you head on out though, be sure to check out my series, The Fallen Age Saga, and don’t forget to sign up for my newsletter so you can get updates on all my latest posts, WIPs, book releases, and more!