How to get out of a reading slump

And break up with your TV.

As someone who proudly identifies as a reader, I am embarrassed to say I’m in a bit of a slump. Okay, a full-blown slump, actually. The last book I finished (Worry by Alexandra Tanner) was in February, and here we are, basically in May. (Side note: I got my first mosquito bite of the season last week, so it’s basically summer here in Tennessee!)

But, you see, I have an excuse for my slump! It’s a bad one, as excuses so often are. Here it is: I recently got a TV. In my bedroom. I know, I know. I don’t even need to cite a source to prove that this is bad. No one is arguing that more TV is a positive thing, much less more TV right before bed. My mom is going to read this and be so disappointed in me. (I’m sorry, Mom! Does it help that the TV was a rescue? A friend was getting rid of it and it simply needed a home!) And with that TV has come an interest in a range of shows, from Love is Blind to Hacks to Everybody’s Live, I’ve been streaming up a storm, simultaneously brain and bed rotting. (Okay, but Hacks is brilliant, so that doesn’t count as brain rot.)

All that said, I believe that the first step towards improvement is acknowledgement that improvement is necessary. In this case, improvement looks like turning off the TV for at least a few nights a week and opening a book (and also putting down my phone. I could rant for days about how much I wish I could throw away my phone, but that’s for another day. Please don’t ask me about my screen time report). In the spirit of lifting myself out of my slump, and with the hope of helping others who may be in the same boat, I’d like to provide some suggestions of books that have helped me out of reading slumps in the past, distinguished by category.

Heartwarming:

The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

A friend once described The House in the Cerulean Sea as a warm hug, and I completely agree. What other book could gently, unknowingly cause you to have you a soft spot for Satan incarnate, Lucifer himself (Lucy for short)? A delightful story about belonging and unlikely friendship, this book is sure to tug on the heartstrings of even the coldest aortic valve (I just made myself cringe but simply can’t help it)!

Heartwarming Runner-Up: Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

Audiobook:

What in the World?! by Leanne Morgan

If you aren’t familiar with Leanne Morgan, your mom definitely is. A 50-something comedian from rural Tennessee, Morgan is as funny as she is fun to listen to. I’m about 20 years younger than her target demographic, but she has a way of making me want to pull up a chair at her kitchen table and chit chat. It’s critical that you listen to this book*, which is read by the author in her delightful southern drawl. Everybody is a “doll,” a word that Morgan manages to draw out into two syllables, and even her stories about topics I can’t relate to (perimenopause and having three children before 30, for example) tickle me to death (pronounced “day-eth”).

Audiobook Runner-Up: Be Ready When the Luck Happens by Ina Garten

*I know some people don’t count listening to an audiobook as reading. And to that I say: who cares? You’re still consuming and processing the book and deriving meaning from it (or deriving no meaning, depending on the content), just via a different medium. I also think listening to an audiobook is an excellent gateway to getting back on track with reading physical books. Sadly, when I find myself deep in a slump, it may take tricking my brain into reading, which sometimes looks like pretending I’m listening to a podcast (or, in this case, a standup special).

Thriller:

First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston

Sometimes just the thing to pull me out of a reading funk is a splashy Reese’s Book Club pick boasting plenty of twists and turns. This thriller jumps around different points in the main character’s life, one that has been characterized by her assumption of various identities, ultimately landing her a man she hardly knows and doesn’t trust (every girl’s dream!). Is the writing particularly strong? No, and for the purposes of Operation Slump Rescue, it doesn’t matter. It’s a fun, fast-paced read that characterizes Southerners as gossipy busybodies (perhaps the most realistic part of the whole story) and had me mentally casting the characters for the movie…if Reese has her hands on it, it’s surely been optioned, right?

Thriller Runner-Up: Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough

Slice of Life/Darkly Funny:

Come and Get It by Kiley Reid

After I read Come and Get It, I couldn’t stop raving about it. The problem was, I struggled to describe it. “What’s it about?” people would understandably ask when I said I had a new favorite book. But that’s the thing, it isn’t really about anything, at least not in a way that lends itself to a compelling synopsis. The writing, particularly the dialogue, is simply so good, so strong, so sharp. I am simultaneously in awe and jealous of Kiley Reid and am chomping at the bit for her next book. The New York Times says Reid “uses chatty college students to make substantive statements about consumerism.” While true, this is a reductive and borderline boring description. You’ll just have to take my word for it: this book is fun, heartbreaking, relatable, provocative, and one worth reading. And re-reading. I’m already looking forward to cracking it open again.

Slice of Life/Darkly Funny Runner-Up: Vacuum in the Dark by Jen Beagin (A note about Vacuum in the Dark: The main character’s imaginary friend is a fictionalized version of NPR’s Terry Gross. I think about this a couple of times a month.)

Literally Anything by David Sedaris

I don’t need to say anything else here. If you don’t know…learn.

I will close with this: while I look forward to pulling myself out of this reading slump, I would be lying if I said I haven’t enjoyed at least some elements of the slump. It is absolutely scrumptious to crawl into bed post Everything Shower, turn off the lights, and settle into the beckoning glow of Roku City. It is nice to turn off my brain for a bit and allow myself to slip into the dramatic lives of twentysomethings falling in lust, or revel in the anticipation of a weekly live show on Netflix, a concept so dated that it feels novel.

However, dear reader, I feel I am reaching the end of my slump - I, too, am ready to be a reader again. But first, one more episode of Celebrity Jeopardy.