Most anyone who has been a generally consistent reader over the course of their life or for an extended season of their life will tell you that there is an ebb and flow to reading. Some seasons are without reading altogether, in other seasons the books are digested like a child with a bag of M&M's and in others, reading can be more like eating broccoli - you know you should, but you really don't want to, or you know you should and even want to, but you just don't want to buy, chop, cook, and then eat the broccoli.
I'm in the latter stage right now. For some reason moving has turned my brain into a misfiring piston. If you're not sure what that is, I've added a video below to help you get an idea.
I jump from one thought to the next with such rapidness that I can barely write down a thought before I've moved on to the next and forgotten the first altogether! You can imagine, how it might be difficult to settle in with a book when that's my brain's current mode.
I determined a month or two ago that for a season I would only read books on audio, that I've already purchased on my Kindle, or that I already owned so that I didn't find myself stuck with five library books halfway completed. It worked well at first... except that right now I have two audiobooks and four nonfiction books that I am 20-40% through.
I am thoroughly enjoying all of these books and am consuming some far more quickly than others. Two are wonderful recommendations from friends, two were Christmas gifts, one is a Modern Mrs. Darcy recommendation, and I have no idea why the other got added to my TBR list, but I am glad it did! I will do the usual mini review on them as they are completed, but don't count your chickens, at this rate it might be a while.
Anyway - the other day I was surprised to get a notification from the library that I had a book on hold since I haven't placed a hold in a long while. To my delight, I discovered that it was a Modern Mrs. Darcy book club pick that had over 160 holds at the time I requested it. I consider good, page turning novels the ultimate brain reset - they keep my mind engaged so that my brain re-learns to focus on the page and to pay attention to what I'm reading. Im hoping this well spoken of novel will help me get past whatever weird reading rut I am in and that it will be a good story to quell the misfiring brain. I really would like to finish those other six books. I'll let you know how it goes.
If you happen to be in search of your next read, or need a reading reset, may I suggest Modern Mrs. Darcy's newly released Summer Reading Guide? Usually about 50-75% of her guide makes my TBR list and I always await it with eager anticipation! It just released last night and I hope to find more books that will engage my brain in a restful way on her lists!
What do the ebbs and flows of your reading life look like? How do you best reset?