Skip to main content

Reader’s block

Ever pick up one book after another, read a chapter, then put it down and start on another, over and over? Ever want to read something, but none of your own books will do and there’s nothing interesting at the library? Ever pick up a book and then decide to watch TV, vacuum the floors, do laundry or go for a walk instead? In short: Have you ever had reader’s block?

That’s me right now. Reviewing will resume once I feel like reading again.

Edit:
Until then, here are some of my old reviews, including the original 52 Books reading project (so far only the fiction - I'm working on the rest).

Comments

Maxine Clarke said…
Hi, yes I have. I find it is associated with depression and/or worry -- the inability to concentrate, to retain information, or to stay awake (if I'm not sleeping at night, reading a book in the day is almost guaranteed to make me nod off).

I guess you need something that has a really compelling opening chapter. Will try to think of something to recommend, but chances are you will already have read it or will have "recovered" by the time I can think of anything.

Good luck! The blog world has lots of interesting distractions!
Erik Buchanan said…
Been there, done that. Have a t-shirt that says "everything I have to read sucks."

I also find it's associated with depression, or with boredom, or the need to start a new project.

Good luck, and let us know when you start something new.
Bibliophile said…
In my case it probably a combination of depression and genre overload. I have been reading too many detective stories lately, and my depression is on the downswing. I'm now reading Gulliver's Travels, which should make a nice change from all the murders and mayhem. It's also good for some laughs.
Anonymous said…
For me, it has nothing to do with depression! Some books are just harder to get into than others. Sometimes, nothing appeals to me. I switch back and forth between fiction and technical/business books and magazines and journals. But sometimes, TV or a walk are the only real choice.

Steven List
Co-Founcer, Back of the Room
benning said…
Yep! I have had 'reader's block' and I don't think there's anything worse for a lover of reading. I hate it! But, luckily, it's infrequent and never lasts long. *whew!*
Maxine Clarke said…
This new (to me) author John Baker I've discovered via him vistiting my blog wrtites well, or at least, the book of his I have read so far, "White Skin Man", is very good and readable. The writing on his blog is good, too.

http://www.johnbakersblog.co.uk/

Also I am reading Donna Leon's latest which is, as usual, excellent. Have you read her? Highly recommended - they are short and readable, so at your rate of reading, 1-2 hours per book, tops.
Bibliophile said…
Maxine, I've never heard of Donna Leon. Will see if the library has any of her books.

Popular posts from this blog

Icelandic folk-tale: The Laughing Merman

Icelanders not only believed in the existence of selkies, but also in mer-people. The mermaids were said to be very beautiful, while the mermen were supposed to be ugly as sin but very wise and able to see things others did not. O nce upon a time a farmer went out fishing and pulled up a merman. He tried to get the merman to talk to him but he would not answer, except to beg him to release him back into the sea, but this the farmer refused to do. The farmer rowed back to land, taking the captive merman with him. When he pulled up the boat on the shore, his wife came to him and greeted him with tenderness and kisses, which he received with pleasure. This made the merman laugh. Then the man’s dog came to him and greeted him tenderly in the way of dogs, by jumping up to him, but the farmer hit the dog. Again the merman laughed. Then the farmer walked up towards his house, but on the way he tripped over a tussock and hurt himself. He got angry and gave the tussock a good kicking. Then...

List love: 10 recommended stories with cross-dressing characters

This trope is almost as old as literature, what with Achilles, Hercules and Athena all cross-dressing in the Greek myths, Thor and Odin disguising themselves as women in the Norse myths, and Arjuna doing the same in the Mahabaratha. In modern times it is most common in romance novels, especially historicals in which a heroine often spends part of the book disguised as a boy, the hero sometimes falling for her while thinking she is a boy. Occasionally a hero will cross-dress, using a female disguise to avoid recognition or to gain access to someplace where he would never be able to go as a man. However, the trope isn’t just found in romances, as may be seen in the list below, in which I recommend stories with a variety of cross-dressing characters. Unfortunately I was only able to dredge up from the depths of my memory two book-length stories I had read in which men cross-dress, so this is mostly a list of women dressed as men. Ghost Riders by Sharyn McCrumb. One of the interwove...

Bibliophile discusses Van Dine’s rules for writing detective stories

Writers have been putting down advice for wannabe writers for centuries, about everything from how to captivate readers to how to build a story and write believable characters to getting published. The mystery genre has had its fair share, and one of the best known advisory essays is mystery writer’s S.S. Van Dine’s 1928 piece “Twenty rules for writing detective stories.” I mentioned in one of my reviews that I might write about these rules. Well, I finally gave myself the time to do it. First comes the rule (condensed), then what I think about it. Here are the Rules as Van Dine wrote them . (Incidentally, check out the rest of this excellent mystery reader’s resource: Gaslight ) The rules are meant to apply to whodunnit amateur detective fiction, but the main ones can be applied to police and P.I. fiction as well. I will discuss them mostly in this context, but will also mention genres where the rules don’t apply and authors who have successfully and unsuccessfully broken the rules. 1...