Reading slump. Ugh. Every bookworm’s nightmare and I had it for two and a half months. It was the most agonizing slump I’ve ever experienced. Of course, I’ve had slumps before, but this particular one was so hard for me. Why? Because I’ve grown to love reading like really love it. I have every intention to pick up a book and dive into it. However, the more I tried, the more it seemed to fail.
I couldn’t catch the story or to fall in love with characters of the book like I usually do. My mind got quite lost every now and then and I ended up reading the same part over and over again.
Don’t get me wrong, I tried. Oh, how I’ve tried. I was reading Heartless by Marissa Meyer at that (dark) time and I brought it with me to every single place I’ve gone into. At the end of the day, I didn’t pick up the book even once.
It looked like I’ve got so many things to do. College stuff, bookstagram stuff (yes, I still post almost every day even when I had a slump), and life, really. The worst part is, if I did pick up a book, suddenly my phone became so interesting even though I was really just scrolling Instagram’s timeline or watching some videos on Youtube (I got so hooked on The Graham Norton Show). When I finally put my phone down, I was too tired to even read.
Even the good almighty Harry Potter can’t get me put me out of this hell hole. See? It was bad!
I went online and even asked my friends on bookstagram what should I do to get out of this slump. I tried some of them, but yeah it didn’t seem to be working effectively.
Then what did I do to finally get over it? Time. I gave it time.
It might sound so simple, but it works. I’m just lucky it doesn’t last for a year or else I have to let go of the “bookworm” title.
But okay, it works. I’m not forcing myself to read anything that I didn’t want to (I was reading a lot of fan fictions, but I didn’t count this as reading because they’re not books, it’s just my logic guys sorry). Eventually, that burning desire to travel the world through the power of words came back to me.
When I finally realized that I want to read, guess what? I didn’t bring any book with me! I ended up going to the nearest bookstore and they had a discount for imported books! Holy sh- it’s meant to be! I bought I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson which I’ve been DYING to read since it came out.
After I finished I’ll Give You the Sun, I picked up another book, and another book, and another one! I couldn’t stop! In almost a month since I read again, I have finished five books! And with that, the slump is gone.
If you’re currently having a slump at this moment, my advice is that you try everything to get you out. Try and try until you found the best method to beat it so if it ever came back, you can just do your thing and poof! the slump is gone. Here are few things you can try to beat the heck of your reading slump. Good luck!