Reading slumps are the worst, aren’t they? Once you get out of the habit of reading regularly it can be hard to get back in to it. Luckily we’ve found a few books that have worked great for zapping those reading slumps and reigniting that excitement for page turning!
– KIM –
Thrillers
One thing that I can usually count on to jump start my desire to read every day are fast-paced thrillers.
The Chain, Adrien McKinty
A book that can really keep you on the edge of your seat makes you want to pick it up every day. The Chain, Adrien McKinty really did that for me. I couldn’t stop reading and had to know how it was going to end.
It’s something parents do every morning: Rachel Klein drops her daughter at the bus stop and heads into her day. But a cell phone call from an unknown number changes everything: it’s a woman on the line, informing her that she has Kylie bound and gagged in her back seat, and the only way Rachel will see her again is to follow her instructions exactly: pay a ransom, and find another child to abduct. This is no ordinary kidnapping: the caller is a mother herself, whose son has been taken, and if Rachel doesn’t do as she’s told, the boy will die.
Short Stories
My other go to for zapping reading slumps are short stories, novellas, or graphic novels. Somehow the short format makes them seem more manageable. When life is busy and I think I can’t find the time to pick up a book, quick and short reads are perfect!
Every Heart A Doorway, Seanan McGuire
Every Heart A Doorway, Seanan McGuire is a magical book that pull you straight into an enchanting story. If you love it, you can read on in this series of mysterious novellas.
Children have always disappeared under the right conditions; slipping through the shadows under a bed or at the back of a wardrobe, tumbling down rabbit holes and into old wells, and emerging somewhere… else. But magical lands have little need for used-up miracle children. Nancy tumbled once, but now she’s back. The things she’s experienced… they change a person. The children under Miss West’s care at her Home for Wayward Children understand all too well. And each of them is seeking a way back to their own fantasy world.
TANYA PATRICE
A Book by a Favorite Author
When you’re in a reading slump, reach for the familiar, like a book from a favorite author. Now, this is no guarantee, but it will definitely steer you in the right direction.
Billy Summers, Stephen King
King is one of my favorite authors, and lately his books have skewed towards mysteries / thrillers with maybe a touch of the supernatural.
Billy Summers is a man in a room with a gun. He’s a killer for hire and the best in the business. But he’ll do the job only if the target is a truly bad guy. And now Billy wants out. But first there is one last hit. Billy is among the best snipers in the world, a decorated Iraq war vet, a Houdini when it comes to vanishing after the job is done. So what could possibly go wrong? How about everything.
King’s storytelling mastery is on full display in Bully Summers. I literally fell in this World and could not escape it’s clutches as I was drawn to read this book at every possible opportunity. King builds the character of Billy Summers in such a way that we SEEEE him. This was just a book that you can sink into … and will pull you out of a reading funk.
A Good Romance
There’s absolutely nothing better to take me out of a reading slump than a cute romance novel. It’ snot a genre I read often, but there’s something about a story of hope and overcoming the odds to find a happily ever after that gets me every time.
Get A Life Chloe Brown, Talia Hibbert
Chloe Brown is a chronically ill computer geek with a goal, a plan, and a list. After almost – but not quite – dying, she’s come up with six directives to help her “Get a Life”, and she’s already completed the first: finally moving out of her glamourous family’s mansion. What Chloe needs next is a teacher, and she knows just the man for the job. Redford ‘Red’ Morgan is a handyman with tattoos, a motorcycle, and more sex appeal than ten-thousand Hollywood heartthrobs.
Just read all the books in this series – and no need to read in any particular order. Get A Life Chloe Brown is a charming novel. snarky, quirky Chloe and sweet, lovable Red. I enjoyed the romance, the banter, and the chemistry between the two. The character development in this novel was excellent. I felt like I really got to know Chloe, all her quirks, her issues due to chronic pain, as well as her sisters and wonderful grandmother. Same with Red – he was a well developed multi-dimensional character.
When was the last time you were in a reading slump? What book got you out of it?
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