I had a big book hangover with Pride & Prejudice last year. I cured it by reading another Jane Austen (Sense & Sensibility) and by watching the TV adaptation over and over again until I got it out of my system.

Books are not puzzles to be solved. If you're looking for that kind of experience, try like puzzles or logic games or something?

One of the chief enjoyments in reading for me is being surprised by an interesting plot point or twist. That being said, sometimes plot twists or developments you learn through the course of the novel are stupid or unearned, which is disappointing.

Reading should be done for enjoyment, entertainment, education, being moved emotionally, etc. But reading is NOT something to be conquered or solved. And when an author takes a story in a direction you didn't predict, it doesn't mean you are inadequate or anything.

Maybe search for authors with tightly plotted books?? Or pick a different hobby 🤷

The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers. It's just so wholesome and chill, and while there were some things about it that annoyed me, overall it was unlike anything I had ever read. The ending was just perfect and so hopeful and beautiful and energizing. I reread the last few pages whenever I'm having a bad day.

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