What's the last book to put you into a reading slump? Or the last book to get you out of one?

Submitted by cantspellrestaraunt t3_z3urmt in books

Currently reading Lolita. Like most people, I put it off for a long time because of the content, but seeing the first page online made me change my mind. The introductory paragraph is probably the best bit of prose I've ever read.

However... 90 pages later, nothing has lived up to that first page. There have been odd bits, here and there, but it's an uphill battle to pick up the book because I'm not invested in the plot. I went in for the conflictingly gorgeous prose, and there's not enough. Because I'm a greedy little literary pig.

Howl's Moving Castle is next on my reading list, and it is CALLING out to me. But I feel the need to finish Lolita and chase that first-page feeling.

So, to answer my own question.

Book to put me into a slump: Lolita

Book that took me out of a slump: Piranesi

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snarky-comeback t1_ixnridh wrote

At Swim-Two-Birds. I found it absolutely pointless. It was like listening to someone who talks too much try and explain a dream they had. I read it as part of reading the Times Top 100 and it killed my reading for a couple of years.

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campionmusic51 t1_ixnryai wrote

sadly, the unconsoled by kazuo ishiguro has killed my reading habits stone dead. they’ve been in their death throes for a while, though. made it a quarter of the way in. it’s not a bad book. i just didn’t care. before that, a clockwork orange kept them on life support for a bit.

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AustellusPoltergeist t1_ixnvx6o wrote

Kafka on the shore made me come back after 3 years of only college scientific readings. I am grateful

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BereniceFleming t1_ixnw6il wrote

In Search of Lost Time. I have abandoned all other books because I am still reading Proust's novel (at leisurely pace, to put it mildly). My mood is varying from "what a gorgeous style and baron de Charlus is amazing" to "God Help Me!"

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thejivemachine t1_ixnya9g wrote

Into my current slump: Acceptance by Jeff Vandermeer, which is a shame because I loved Annihilation.

Out of a multi-year slump: The Passage by Justin Cronin. It reminded me that books can be fun.

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hgaterms t1_ixnyd09 wrote

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir got me out of an almost 5-year reading slump. I devoured that book over the course of 4 days. I've now finished four more books since this summer and that's quite an accomplishment considering my free time is essentially at zero these days.

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quattrophile t1_ixnyt6w wrote

I just finished that book last week after also avoiding it for a long time. I don't think I've had to look up that many words in the dictionary mid-read in decades.

To your question, the book(s) that put me into a reading slump were the Wheel of Time books. I....don't get the hype around them. I forced myself through to about halfway through the fourth book and gave up. Picking up the Mistborn series catapulted me out of that reading slump before the end of the prologue.

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cantspellrestaraunt OP t1_ixo1qst wrote

Replying to snarky-comeback (#655,981)

> it killed my reading for a couple of years

I think it's important to acknowledge that reading books is a more active exercise than consuming other creative media (e.g. films, music, art). In a way, readers and writers are equal partners in the creation of their fiction. A bad book can really knock you out of a great habit.

I studied English up to master's level, and I've gone years without picking up a book. For a while, I saw it as an academic exercise, and it took some time for the joy to come back.

Just skimmed the first few pages of At Swim-Two-Birds. Not sure if it's for me. Though I am currently attempting to write a book myself, and "like listening to someone who talks too much try and explain a dream they had" sounds an awful lot like my writing style. lol.

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hgaterms t1_ixo3ty2 wrote

Replying to cantspellrestaraunt (#657,190)

The great thing about the author is that he makes sci-fi easily accessible to the casual reader and his books are always full of humor. You don't have to be a sci-fi fan to enjoy the book. I always recommend it to people if they are curious. If you don't want to borrow it from your library, the audiobook is also fantastic. It won "Audiobook of the Year" so it's absolutely worth a listen!

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boxer_dogs_dance t1_ixo6luh wrote

I really struggled with and did not finish Goedel Esther Bach. The Traveling Cat Chronicles and Paper Castles revived my love of reading.

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doctorwhodances t1_ixod98e wrote

Into: Winter by Ali Smith, disappointing as I heard great things about it.

Out: Where the Crawdads sing, a friend and her husband both recommended it to me, had no idea what the premise was but couldn't stop reading it

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MusicEoo t1_ixoltj7 wrote

Chronicles of the Happiest People on Earth. My god what a long boring and straining read. The whole book felt like an uphill battle since page one.

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alessandraisreading t1_ixopvug wrote

Great Expectations is putting me into one. I was doing great and really liking it. And then around page 150 the other day I hit a wall and I can't get back into it

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Totally__Not__NSA t1_ixoq14z wrote

Green Mars put me into a slump. I think it was just one too many sci-fi books in a row.

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Emberian t1_ixos8b0 wrote

Migrations. Beautifully written. Just could'nt get through it.

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Semanticss t1_ixou8o1 wrote

"Berlin" by Robert Harris got me out of my slump. It was an unusual one for me, but I couldn't put it down! After that I went looking for similar books, so I read "Pompeii" by him, and then The Hunt for Red October.

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vivahermione t1_ixoum7q wrote

No Fond Return of Love by Barbara Pym got me out of a slump. I had a stressful life event and didn't feel like I could process a new book, so rereading a familiar favorite was just what I needed. I finished it in 3-4 days.

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mid-world_lanes t1_ixovoui wrote

The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie for getting out of a slump. It got me back into sprawling series again. I read through that series and then immediately followed it up with the Expanse, Greenbone Saga, and now I’m working on Gentleman Bastards.

Also Piranesi is so fucking good. I just read it a couple days ago and I’m still thinking about it all the time.

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Mobile-Importance-74 t1_ixp8j47 wrote

Infinite Jest made me want to read a bunch of books quickly just to get the sour taste of that piece of crap out of my mouth.

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midnight_rain_13 t1_ixpj4d1 wrote

My most notable slumps resulted from Desert Solitaire and The Overstory.

I usually recover by reading easy YA or fantasy novels with fast pacing. The Priory of the Orange Tree put me into a reading frenzy!!

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nostalgiastoner t1_ixpoziu wrote

Murakami's 1Q84 got me out of a years long reading slump and I'd been reading 3 books per month and absolutely loving it, but I got the 'rona and can't concentrate on anything now. The book that made me throw in the towel was William Golding's The Inheritors.

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idk-lol-1234 t1_ixpqmul wrote

The Cruel Prince and one other book I cant remember the name of, put me into a slump.

Song For a Scarlet Runner Always gets me out of a slump.

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slaylentless t1_ixprzea wrote

I havent started a book since quitting lord of the flies, it frustrated me from the authors foreword and i couldn't bring myself to read(listen? Audiobook) any more than a fe chapters

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SheepskinCrybaby t1_ixps6g1 wrote

I’m rereading Howl’s Moving Castle right now and I’m sure as many others will tell you, it’s goofy and fun and you should definitely read it soon!

Last book to put me in a slump: Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation. I’ve listened to the first few hours of the audio book a few times now and maybe it’s the audiobook’s voice author, or the dense material, or the current political climate but I know it’s something I can read later when I want to. But the time is not now.

Brought me back to reading: A Clash of Kings. The song of ice and fire series is just good tv, even if you’re reading it! It’s so long and I’ve read it before that the series is usually my “between reads” reading material, but it’s got a great plot and is bringing me back into nightly reading habits!

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SheepskinCrybaby t1_ixpt0gu wrote

Replying to [deleted] (#663,372)

Haha your comment definitely made me laugh. I’m a big fan of the LotR movies. I brought the first book on a 10 hour flight with me and read a decent amount I think, but at some point just kept rereading the same paragraphs over and over again and though “Well, I guess I’m sleeping for the next 9 hours” and I did.

I never read the Warriors books but they sure look fun.

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Autarch_Kade t1_ixq2loz wrote

After reading The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe, I didn't pick up another book for years. Other books felt so simple, straightforward, and shallow by comparison. Reading became a hollow experience. I thought that I wouldn't ever again find another book on that level, that my reading hobby had peaked and it was all downhill from there.

And that's been true. I've since read many books and enjoyed them, but nothing comes close to that experience, and I doubt anything will. I'd love nothing more to be wrong here though!

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6eleven3369 t1_ixq8nmf wrote

The Enigma of Room 622 just took me out of my multi-year slump. Read it over the course of 2 days.

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BraveDaddy t1_ixqezb6 wrote

“Benjamin Franklin” by Carl Van Dooren put me in a slump. That book was tedious and I think every single day of Franklin’s life was chronicled, even if he was just sick in bed that day. Painful. I read “His Excellency” by Joseph J. Ellis. I was out of my slump, but honestly, I think I was just glad to be done with Van Dooren’s book.

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Few_Food7021 t1_ixqlmd2 wrote

Into: mindset Its a psychology book about success that I got for my birthday. Putting a long story short, non-fiction just isn’t my thing and I fell into a reading slump after reading a bit because my mind just wandered whenever I picked it up.

Out and back into: Farenheit 451 The idea was really interesting to me and starting it was amazing. I loved the descriptions and honestly reading became fun. For a bit. It’s not a long book at all, but I am struggling to finish it. The descriptions rely a LOT on metaphor and stuff like that, and I enjoy it but I struggled to grasp onto what was happening sometimes. In the end, I didn’t finish it, but I might try again someday. I don’t know.

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moodRubicund t1_ixqojjf wrote

Howl's Moving Castle has a very slow start but if you push through it it's worth it. Took me a month to get past the first bit and then a day to read the rest lmao.

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Roscar26041 t1_ixqvf7b wrote

I don't remember what book put me into slump as it had been going for 2-3 years probably. There are several books that got me out of it that being no longer human, dune(now reading the whole series) and Harlan Ellison with his short prose.

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c_cha01 t1_ixqwya1 wrote

Normal People, I've read the book last June and I'm still not picking up another book😭 help

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DianaMortagua t1_ixqzhk0 wrote

I usually dont get into reading slumps because of a bad book but rather a very good book because I get book hungover and then sometimes I just don't start anything for along time and when I realize it I'm in a slump. So, for me it was Mistborn. I was so crazy over it that I had a bad time. To go back I usually just go for a series I left waiting on the 1st or 2nd book. Or something small I know I will enjoy or a book from my favourite author

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cantspellrestaraunt OP t1_ixr1pi2 wrote

Replying to Autarch_Kade (#665,439)

That's something I hadn't really considered. A phenomenal book can also put you into a reading slump.

A good friend of mine said when she first read The Bell Jar, every book she picked up afterward rang hollow. There was something so blunt and poetic about Plath's prose that she couldn't quite shake off the voice.

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MoabFlapjack t1_ixr5fj9 wrote

Books of Jacob by Olga Tokarczuk. I read it in August and loved it. I’m still in the slump though. It is so magnificent and absorbing, nothing has matched it. I followed it with a few novellas to zoom through, but my momentum is gone.

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ILMITS-99 t1_ixrfc19 wrote

The Handmaid’s Tale. The book was on my list for a long time, but I just stopped reading it half way through. Just picked up Mary Oliver’s “Upstream” and that is pulling me out of my reading slump.

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lsymons22 t1_ixrk2iv wrote

Slump: The two dictators, Hitler and Stalin. Out of slump: Don Quixote.

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SnooTomatoes564 t1_ixru0wn wrote

the book that put me into a slump was wheel of time book 8, and the book that took me out of it was rereading wheel of time book 6 😭

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Magneto57 t1_ixs3fwy wrote

The Holiness of God by RC Sproul

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leforteiii t1_ixsei5i wrote

Into: The Midnight Library.

Out of: Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield. Feels nice to have a book you're passionate about again, after so long

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Key_Piccolo_2187 t1_ixslzw3 wrote

Trick question. Same book. Anthony Marra's Mercury Pictures Presents'.

I average 7-10 days per book. This took me 60 days. And I loved all of them.

Same notion: Ducks, Newburyport

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Bittersweetfeline t1_ixt4vyf wrote

I'm in a slump right now: Hyperion (not that it's bad! I just need time to digest each story and I can't get back to it right now)

That took me out of my previous slump: Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

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FloofyHeadUnihorse t1_ixv1g6v wrote

The Outlander series made me start reading again. I devoured those books, and when I finished what was published at the time, I was so lost. Haven't been able to get into a book since (it's been since 2020).

Trying my best to find something that grabs me, but no luck so far... Which is why I've found my way here..

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AdventuringPixie t1_ixwbmlv wrote

Into a slump: Foundation by Issac Asimov. I watched the series and was really looking forward to this book but it's quite a slog. Considering it was written in the 40s his predictions about the evolution of society are mostly on point, and it is very clever. Unfortunately it's mostly just people talking. No character development, no women, very little action. Will definitely go back at some point and try to read the last quarter. It's just not a book I can lose myself in so not overly enjoyable for me.

Out of a slump: The Wolf Den by Elodie Harper. The history is amazing - I really love how each chapter starts with a piece of graffiti or writing from Pompeii. Great characters, great plot, emotional stakes are high. World building to get lost in, 10/10.

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