The 5 stages of a book slump

I have a pile of four books to review for the San Francisco Book Review right now. Also, I want to read Jeff VanderMeer's Southern Reach trilogy before "Annihilation" arrives in movie form next week. Somewhere in my house there are a few installments of the Jessica Jones comics that I want to read before Jessica Jones Season 2 comes to Netflix at the beginning of March. I have a few galleys from NetGalley to read.

But, guys, I don't feel like it.

It was chilly for a while in Florida. It was fairly windy, which made it difficult to go to the beach to get in some solid reading time. It's no fun when you're cold and there's sand in your eyes and your pages are flapping around everywhere.

When I don't feel like reading, I drink tea and knit. When I don't feel like knitting, I read. It's a happy marriage. I'm working on a baby sweater, by the way.

Beyond that, I think I'm in a book slump.

It's happened before, after I've read some of the worst books I've ever read in my life, and I'm usually mostly fine. I just feel guilty that I spent a lot of time in November and December launching this blog and a YouTube channel only to abandon it unceremoniously for two months. There's nothing, really, that can be done.

Part of my slump, too, I think, stems from wanting to listen to other people more rather than spout my own opinion about things. Right now I want to live in reality, rather than get lost in another reality. But that's a story for another day.

Anyway, here are the five stages of a book slump, and how you can get through it.

1. Forcing yourself to read

Pick a book up, put it down. Read a page. Read a whole chapter. Put the book in your purse, thinking you're going to read it during the down time in your life (lunch breaks? waiting in line?) and you don't. Find the book a few weeks later at the bottom of your purse with old receipts in the pages and an ancient, melted cough drop stuck to the cover.

2. Feeling like a terrible person (but you're not!)

Look at your pile of books. Think: Were all of the covers of these books always this ugly? Who would want to read them? What amateur thought red- AND yellow-colored letters on the title was a good idea? Since when do you judge books by their covers? What kind of book reviewer are you? Embrace your self-admonishment. Really lean into that sense of loss that a book slump can bring. The faster you admit you're in a book slump, the sooner you can move beyond it.

3. Buying new books -- and not reading them

Surely you'll get back to reading if you can find something you'll actually enjoy. There's a movie coming out in a few weeks that you think you'll like, so you find the source material. Gosh, the book looks awfully long. Will you be able to finish it in time for the movie? Eh, maybe not.

4. Ennui

If you've gone a few weeks glancing at your book pile and wishing you felt compelled to read anything, anything!, pursue some other hobbies. I like knitting, baking, running, playing video games and lifting weights for fun. Put your books in a safe spot where you'll still remember they're there, but where they're not GLARING at you. Do some other things for a few weeks. Heck, do NOTHING for a few weeks. Your books will be there when you get back.

5. Really reading this time, and loving it

Eventually, the covers won't seem so ugly. One day, you'll pick up a book (watch out for that sticky cough drop spot on the cover!) and slipping into a new world with new characters will be so easy. You'll wonder why you ever stopped reading at all.