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What would you call Reader's Block?
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Fiona (Titch)
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Jan 29, 2009 01:25AM

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I was too nervous to concentrate on something else, even if that other thing was fictional, and my attention span was so short that I couldn't read more than a page or two at a time... doesn't make keeping track of story and characters very easy, augmenting the first problem - vicious cycle.
I watched a lot of TV in that period and re-read my favorite mystery series, and Harry Potter, one right after the next.
Hope it doesn't stick with you too long.

I've also had times when I just can't bear to sit down and pick up the book - this is probably more akin to what you are talking about because writers will hate to sit down to write. It is generally due to a book that is "going slowly" and can be further complicated if it is a very long or "tightly spaced" text book.
-- Wife of GR author Michael J. Sullivan: The Crown Conspiracy (10/08) | Avempartha (04/09)

You have just pinpointed my December 2008. There seems to be no time for reading, and then when you sit down to read nothing seems interesting. I would fall asleep within 10 minutes of reading (no matter what I was reading), and when I put a book down I had no interest in picking it back up.
To fix it, I 1) got through the holidays, 2) read something EASY that I knew I could put down several times, no big deal.
This, too, shall pass........


When I get readers block, I force myself to read. I shut the laptop, get my coffee ready, find a comfy spot on the futon and get down to buisness. Needless to say, hours usually pass and I wind up getting out of my reader's block.

Good luck Fiona !

last time was during december, i was working to many hours...
I tried different books but still nothing. even books that I was really enjoying didnt work.I only got up to my normal reading speed on the middle of january

Now, I am waiting to begin a book with some friends and don't want to start anything substantial in the meantime. It doesn't feel as useless as last month, because at least I am catching up on magazines;)

When I get readers block, I force myself to read. I shut the laptop, get my coffee ready, find a comfy spot on the futon and get down to buisness. Needless to say, hours usually pass and I wind up getting out of my reader's block.
APRIL! I think GOOGLE has ruined me! I have a hard time reading for as LONG as I used to. I can only read for about an hour and then I need to take a break. I also listen to the TV while I read, so that helps keep my mind busy.

Laura, I have read Harlan Coben books and I love his, might get a couple from the library and re-read them. Will look for the other book in the morning.




Okay, that word sure is funny to type out.
My solution is usually to read something that I know I will FLY through. So that it doesn't matter what type of book it really is and if it matches my mood - I can just be reading something. (So I'll pick like a Jodi Picoult book or something. She's written like 15 books, so there are still some out there I haven't read.)
Because usually the problem is that I can't figure out what I'm in the mood for. Trying to read a "real" book that doesn't match my mood will just result in never picking up the book to read. So by reading something mindless, I can just get the ball rolling again, and hopefully soon, I can figure out what I AM in the mood for.
There have been times I've picked up a book and grown so restless I had to put it down. Time to read is such a luxury that if the story doesn't immediately captivate, then everything else I should be doing slips into my mind. However I hate not finishing a book so usually I put it down and pick it up from time to time hoping if I read it for a little longer, it’ll grab me. I have three such books around her somewhere.

-- Wife of GR author Michael J. Sullivan: The Crown Conspiracy (10/08) | Avempartha (04/09)





I skip around from genre to genre when I read, so I don't get in a slump between books. I always have some new kind of book to focus on. For instance, "The (boring) Andromeda Strain" was Sci-fi, so now I am onto "The Reader", which I guess you'd call historical-fiction, although its only going back to WWII, and I like my historical-fiction a bit older than that. :)
I like to jump from one corner to the complete opposite one with each book. Sword and dragon fantasy then a Shakespeare classic, then a vampire book, then a swashbucklin' pirates tale, then a apocalyptic plague, then a romance... I'm just all over the place!

Know just what you mean Fiona! I have gotten out of my book depression by reading light books; ones I can read in about a day. Also makes me feel good to be able to list more 'read' books on here!

But I always reach for my medicine which I call my palate cleanser.
No it is not a dirty martini.....it is a fun fluffy read like a mystery or a sookie stackhouse book would be an example of a palate cleanser....nothing high literature....just plain fun.



I am a language teacher and I tell my kids (12 yr olds) who don't like to read, that they just haven't found the right book - it usually works out that when they find it, they get hooked. I think that is why I read 3/4/5 books at a time - whatever mood I am will dictate which book I pick up - also, which character I am missing the most.


I experienced the same problem, I would WANT to read but when I sit down and pick up my book I've lost all motivation to read at all. Then again the beginning of my book was pretty slow and boring and I just got to the start the really interesting stuff. Maybe you're book is just in a boring chapter or something.


I'm exactly the same - after reading a great book I don't want to sully the characters by bringing others into my imagination.
I am just slogging through Love in the Time of Cholera. It is taking me ages because although the writing style is Ok, I can't stand any of the characters. If the book ended in a massive explosion where all of them died I would feel most satisfied.










Nowadays, if I'm having reader's block, I'll listen to a YA audiobook in my car while I drive. I really enjoy that. The Artemis Fowl books are INCREDIBLE as audiobooks. I actually haven't READ-read any of them!

Sometimes it likes staring into the refrigerator, you're hungry for something, but don't what it is that you're craving.
Eventually a good book comes around again though, and then it's back to having fun reading. That's what I like about Goodreads, whenever I'm in a reading rut, I can always find good recommendations.
Books mentioned in this topic
Bucky Katt's Big Book of Fun: A Get Fuzzy Treasury (other topics)Total Control (other topics)
Chasing Windmills (other topics)
Avempartha (other topics)