How to Get Out of a Reading Slump
- thebookshelfe
- Feb 25
- 5 min read
It happens to the best of us, you fall into a reading slump and just can't muster the energy to get out of it.
As an avid reader, librarian, and all around book lover, I have some tips to help you out.
Join a book club
While not everyone likes having "homework," for some people having a goal to read this book by this time is super helpful. It also adds a social aspect to reading that can be super fun.
Not sure where to find a book club? Your local library is almost guaranteed to have one! I am actually going to my first book club at the library in the town I just moved to tonight! I'm very excited.
Also, the bonus of book clubs is that they help you read outside your normal genres. You'll often discover that you like books that you never would have picked up on your own.
If your local library doesn't have a book club, you can check bookclub.com. And of course, you can always check with your local bookstores, they often have fun book clubs that meet at a bar or restaurant.
Finally, if there are no book clubs around, start one yourself! You don't even have to meet in person necessarily. I'll often do a "buddy read" with a friend, even if they are thousands of miles away. It's a really fun way to connect, and get out of that reading slump.
Listen to an audiobook
Sitting down and reading a physical book may not be feasible with your busy schedule, leading to a forced reading slump. This is where an audiobook comes in handy. Most of us have to do at least one of the following:
Commute to work
Cook
Clean
Work out
These all provide the perfect opportunity to listen to an audiobook!
Let me tell you, I hated audiobooks at first. I really disliked listening to someone read to me at what I thought was an unbearably slow pace. But after a little bit of listening, and learning a few tricks, I was a convert!
I often have at least one audiobook going along with the physical books I read. And guess what??
IT ALL COUNTS AS READING.
This is coming from a librarian, so you know you can believe it.
Some of the tricks I learned that helped me love audiobooks:
Use a free app like Libby (almost every library gives you access to this), where you have access to thousands of eBooks and eAudiobooks (among other things) and can even control the speed in which you listen to the narration and set sleep timers.
I'm a weirdo and like to listen to audiobooks at 2x the speed, when others hear it, they think it sounds like Alvin and the Chipmunks...
Another tip for audiobooks: if you find a narrator that you love, you can search for other books that they narrate! Libby makes this super easy, their name is always listed as a clickable link with the author, so you just tap it and it will take you to all the books they've narrated! Easy peasy!
Another app that libraries often have is Hoopla, which also has thousands of audiobooks, ebooks, movies, and tv-shows for free with your library card, so make sure you check them out too! They have a lot of the same features as Libby.
(Can you tell I love libraries and what they offer???)
Unfortunately, not everyone has access to a library (it makes me so sad), so how do you get audiobooks then? There's a few options, of course most have heard about audible, which is an Amazon company that has all the audiobooks you could ever want, for a fee (after a one month free trial).
But then there is also Libro.fm, which is one of my personal favorites. Libro.fm is wonderful because it supports local bookstores! When you sign up, you get to choose which bookstore you would like to back, and then all your purchases will go toward supporting them! It's about the same price as Audible, but while also helping keep our local bookstores in business.
A free option for audiobooks is Libri Vox, which is a website that has thousands of audiobooks read for you by volunteers around the world. You could even join in! One of my librarian friends uses Libri Vox all the time and loves it!
Wow, I really went on and on about audiobooks, who knew??
Set specific time aside for reading, even if it's just 5 minutes.
Sometimes it just really helps to write out your schedule and put reading in a time slot. This could be for 10 minutes after the kids get on the bus and before you go to work. Or, perhaps 5 minutes before you turn off the light to go to sleep. Or maybe even 5 minutes during your lunch break, instead of doom scrolling.
The hardest part about getting out of a reading slump is just picking up that book. I find that if I know it is my "designated reading time" then I am much more likely to pick up my book, AND I won't feel guilty about not doing other things, because this was planned.
This is embarrassing, but I was about to post this blog and forgot to plug my own company, Shelf/e! FAIL!
So, the fourth way to get out of a reading slump is to sign up for Shelf/e! With curated book recommendations, this is a sure fire way to get you matched with books that meet your interests and capture your imagination, really pulling you out of that reading slump.
You can either sign up for the "Recommendations Only" plan where you get three well-researched recommendations with a personal write up about why I think you, specifically, will love them.
Or you can get "An Exhaustive Shelf" which gives you the above mentioned recommendations, and also your choice of one of those recommendations as an ebook to own!
I can't believe I almost posted this without plugging Shelf/e. I promise you'll love it! I have wonderful, loyal subscribers who just can't get enough of it, feel free to read their testimonials :).
And lastly, but perhaps most importantly: give yourself some grace, there are times that life is busy, or you just don't feel like reading, and that is okay!
If you are like me, a lot of your identity might have found itself enmeshed around reading. I am guilty of feeling like every free moment should be spent reading, but that is just simply not true. It is okay to take breaks from reading, it is okay to be in a slump. Sometimes you just need to be in that slump for a while, and then you'll come back to reading with a new found excitement later on.
SHOW YOURSELF SOME GRACE.
Alrighty, those are some of my tips to help you get out of (or accept that it's okay to be in) a reading slump!
Just for fun, here are the books I'm currently reading and the one I just finished for my book club tonight (as always, I will earn a small comission if you purchase anything though the Amazon links <3)
Book Club:
For my own mental health and growth:
For my graphic design dreams:
For my love of compulsive thrillers (I'm doing this one in audiobook form):
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