It happens to all of us – we finish a book, we don’t really know what to read next, we can’t find anything we want to read, or we lose interest in what we are reading and then more time goes by, and we end up in a bit of a reading slump.

I thought I’d share a few of the things I’ve found really help with getting out of a reading slump…

Re-reading old favourites

There aren’t many books I’ll read over and over, but I have a few favourites that I can always pick up and immediately want to keep reading. I Am Pilgrim (Terry Hayes) is one of those books – it’s such a long book that there’s no way I can remember all the details, and I’ve probably read it 4 or 5 times now. My theory was that because I already know I love the book, then I’ll enjoy reading it again! 

Audiobooks

I absolutely love audiobooks, I’ve listened to them since I was a child (on cassette tapes!) and I’ve found they’ve been amazing for getting out of a reading slump. I can listen to them while I’m cooking, or going for a run, or just pottering around the house, and most of the time I’m so caught up in the story I don’t even realise how much of the book I’ve got through! 

Looking for some recommendations? Read: Five books we think are better as audiobooks

Asking for recommendations

I am constantly asking friends what books they’ve read and enjoyed, especially if I know we have similar taste in books. The Beth’s Book Club Facebook page is amazing for inspiration, and I often find myself scrolling through book pages on Instagram to find books people are raving about.

Stop focussing on targets and challenges

This was a big one for me. For the last few years I’ve challenged myself to read something like 75 books a year. I’m generally a pretty quick reader, but I found that I got to the point where I was racing through books without really enjoying them, just reading for the sake of it, and then when I hit a slump, I found I was getting anxious that I wouldn’t meet my target. I realised how silly that was – I should be reading because I want to be, not to hit a certain number, and once I reminded myself of this, and stopped setting myself a number to hit, I found I enjoyed reading a lot more!

If you’ve got any tips of things that have helped you, we’d love to hear them!