BOOK JOURNAL: a reading slump edition

thoughts on reading goals and my current approach to climbing out of an August/September reading slump

Oct 01, 2024

Last week I was on a group chat where a friend exclaimed that she had read her 70th book of the year. I was simultaneously impressed and proud of her, and also green with envy (I’ve only hit 30 books so far this year). Since the pandemic, I’ve averaged anywhere from 60 to 75 books a year, and that’s not including newsletters/Substacks, my Poetry or Vanity Fair subscriptions, or other non-book reading materials. I’m an avid reader, and also enough of a Type-A ambitious nerdo to want to set annual reading goals. I realize my goal is a high one, but in my bookish world, I have friends reading upwards of 200 books a year. “Wow!” is right. I have badass friends, and it’s easy to fall into a comparison trap.

This year, I wanted to temper my reading goal from the 60-75 range to something more manageable, considering I wanted to spend a significant amount of my free time focusing on writing. So, in January, 50 books sounded more than reasonable. What I didn’t factor into the equation were the unexpected external factors that ate up my otherwise prime reading time: last minute travel plans, a new puppy, and intense out-of-the-norm work projects. It’s not like I’m not reading at all—I finished Pod by Laline Paull last week (book number 30 of the year). Averaging 3-4 books per month is frankly admirable, so I should just cut myself some slack, right? (See also, it’s giving eldest daughter—even goals I set for myself trigger my perfectionist tendencies that keep me up at night.)

Setting the number of books I’ve read this year aside, August and September presented an honest-to-goddess slump. I had a hard time finding time to read, and when I did, I wasn’t really jonesing to pick up whatever I was in the middle of. If I’m being honest, I’ve only truly devoured and loved five books this year, so perhaps the slump is a year long saga (versus just a two month blip):

All Fours, by Miranda July (my thoughts here)
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, by Gabrielle Zevin*
One in a Millennial: On Friendship, Feelings, Fangirls and Fitting In, by Kate Kennedy (my thoughts here)
The Vulnerables, by Sigrid Nunez (my thoughts here)
Draco Malfoy and the Mortifying Ordeal of Being in Love, by isthisselfcare (fan fic)

All this being said, as much as I LOVE books and reading and talking about books and reading, I’ve had a rough year by my standards in books and reading.

The good news is this month feels different, and I feel the gaining momentum pulling me out of this particular reading slump. There are several ways to get out of this perilous state, but my three-pronged approach for this particular slump is working, so I wanted to share it with you…

1. I’m letting autumn take the wheel.

It’s fall, y’all, and that means it’s time for the Practical Magic memes, the spooky weather, the witchy wardrobe choices, pumpkin-spiced everything, and my personal favorite reading season. I’m allowing myself to fall prey to the crisp fall air by grabbing a fluffy blanket, a thick book, and a hot cup of something. Snuggling up is my personal favorite way to read—bless the weather for finally cooperating. Plus, it’s almost October, which means the gothic reads are automatically moved up on the TBR list. Like, don’t we all want to reach for Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca or Deborah Harkness’s All Souls Trilogy in times like these?

Big fluffy dog also helps the cozy factor

2. I’m picking up what I know I love: my beloved Irish authors

All hail Sally Rooney! Louise Kennedy! Claire Keegan! We are in so much luck—and by “we” I mean “I” but it can be “you” too (!)—because Sally Rooney’s new novel, Intermezzo came out last Tuesday. I’m a few chapters in and chomping at the bit to get back under that cozy blanket to finish it. If you’ve read any of my Book Journal entries thus far, you know I LOVE Sally Rooney’s work. Fall is a perfect season to read any of her novels: the imagery of academia, the blustering Irish weather, and the emotional tumult of her characters are heightened during this season. If the first few chapters are any indication, Intermezzo will scratch this autumn-induced itch.

3. I’m getting inspired by dark academia TV

I’ve been watching a dark academia show to add to your TV and TBR list: Season 2 of Tell Me Lies, which is based on the book of the same title by Carola Lovering. Watching this series is entertaining, yes, but it’s also wildly inspiring to pick up something collegiate. Other similar reads include: My Last Innocent Year by Daisy Alpert Florin (a Dear Readers pick from last fall that was generally well-received), The Secret History by Donna Tartt (which I personally hated, but others I respect absolutely loved), The Idiot by Elif Batuman (which I found wonderfully pretentious), The Divines by Ellie Eaton (a flashback heavy/all girls’ school setting/coming of age story), Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro (dark academia meets dystopia future masterpiece), and True Biz by Sara Nović (one of my favorite reads from 2023; a multiple POV set in a school for the deaf).

IN CONCLUSION, reading slumps can happen to the best of us, and they aren’t always easy to beat or beat quickly. The season and the publishing schedules are on my side this go-around, but I won’t always get this lucky.

So, I leave you (and myself) with three takeaways:

We need to give ourselves grace. Reading slumps are not representative of a character flaw or failure (this is especially for all my perfectionist girlies out there, including myself). What’s worked in the past may not always work to get us out of a slump, and that’s okay, as long as we keep trying.
We all have explicit and permanent permission to set a yearly reading goal or not, to change our reading goal as many times as we want in the year to meet ourselves where we are, and to celebrate folks around us who have goals—whether it’s 12 books a year or 200, and regardless of whether they meet them.
This an open invitation to share with this community your tried-and-true approaches to climbing out of a reading slump. All ideas are always welcome, and I’d love to hear from you.