The last week or so has been pretty exhausting - work has been busy and stressful and there have been lots of other "life" things to take care of in the meantime. I have found myself lacking energy for anything but the most basic of tasks and as a result my blogging - and my reading has suffered.
I feel like I am surrounded by plenty of amazing reading material but I just can't find the energy or motivation to become interested and captivated in a book at the moment. I hate this feeling - the fact that I am always attached to some sort of reading material is such a big part of my personality - books help me feel like me - without them I am feeling a little lost and miserable.
So, I am calling on you out there to help inspire and energise me!! Has there been a book you have read recently that has captured you completely? Or, can you think of a time when you felt similar to the way I am feeling now - what book brought you back to reading and helped you to concentrate??
I know this feeling will pass - they always do - I will just search for that magic book in the meantime!
15 comments:
Feeling the same way right now, Karen. I remember being pulled out of a reading funk by Cormac McCarthy's The Road and Ian McEwan's Atonement. Hope you start reading again soon. If not, it's okay, too. :)
Have you read The Other Hand (aka Little Bee) by Chris Cleave? I have just finished reading it and was gripped from beginning to end. It was an emotional rollercoaster, so have your tissues ready.
I hope you find a good book soon.
The Wilderness is such a great book, Karen, although you may find it too bleak to pull you in.
Whenever I experience a book funk I go to Children's Literature or something funny to snap me out of it and it always works and then I resume my usual TBR pile. Something charming and enchanting works too, something uplifting and a favourite like 84 Charing Cross Road, I Capture the Castle, The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets...
Hi Claire - sorry to hear you are feeling this way too. It's such a downer isn't it?? I loved Atonement - I might even re-read it - such a wonderful book.
Hi Jackie - I have read The Other Hand - it was just fantastic wasn't it? I have heard great things about his earlier book too so maybe I should check that one out...
Hi Paperback Reader - I did try to give it The Wilderness a go last night but I just couldn't read my way into it. I know I will love it when I am in the right mood though so I want to save it until then I think. You are so right about the childern's lit area for this mood - I might have to drag out some old favourites.
Oh I hate it when life get so stressful our reading suffers. I hope things calm down for you.
I tend to go for mysteries when I want comfort reads and especially the agatha Christie type. Or how about a Georgette Heyer book?
I've been in the same funk and trying to get through two books right now that I know are well written, but still not grabbing me. I picked up Jeannette Walls' "The Glass Castle" memoir and started reading last night and have hardly been able to put it down. Another great one I read this year that was totally enthralling was "Fingersmith" by Sarah Waters.
I just recently reviewed Sheridan Hay's The Secret of Lost Things on my blog, and I found it was a good panacea to my reading malaise at the time. I sunk into that book like I would a warm bath and it was exactly what I was looking for. So maybe that would work for you? Also finished reading John Berendt's Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil yesterday, which was non-fiction that read like fiction. It was super absorbing as well as a quick read... when I review it in the next few days on my blog, I'll be highly recommending it!
Hi Iliana - A Georgette Heyer book might be a good idea. Heading to Sydney today so I might be able to find some good ones in the bookshops there. Thanks for your suggestions!
Hi Verbatim - I have read Fingersmith earlier this year and completely agree with you - it is great read. I have not read The Glass Castle though so I will keep an eye out for it. Thanks!
Hi Steph - I am pretty sure I have read The Secret of Lost Things - is that the one where the main character is working in a bookshop? I love Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil - such a fantastic read. I also like his later book set in Venice. Have you read that one?
Yes, the main character does work in a bookshop (in New York, though she is originally from Tasmania) in Secret of Lost Things.
I haven't read Berendt's second novel (though I did stumble across it in the used bookstore on my last trip), but I loved Midnight, so I may check it out in the future... He was such an alluring and engaging writer, I'm sure I'd enjoy it, no matter the subject!
Lovely photo--I totally understand that feeling of exhaustion. Sorry to hear you're not able to fall back on your reading! I just reread Clare Chambers Learning to Swim, which I absolutely love and loved it even more the second time around. It's a coming of age story set in the 1980s. I was completely absorbed by it (so much so I often returned to my desk late from lunch this past week as I was totally engrossed in the story!). I hope this phase passes quickly!
Hi Karen,
Hope the trip to Sydney helps you find your reading mo-jo again. There are so many great suggestions here for you, I have nothing to offer - except to suggest a bath, a glass of wine and a note pad.(that's not a book, but an experience).
I've just finished Pat Barker's Life Class, which is one of the most memorable books I've read this year. It really captures a particular time in history, and it's very easy to get carried away with the characters.
It's a very unforgiving portrait of war, though, and made me a bit squeamish in a few parts, but overall it was a great book.
Hi Steph - yep, that's the book I was thinking of. I did enjoy that one.
Hi Danielle - thanks so much for your suggestion. I haven't heard of that one before so I will definitely keep an eye out for it.
Hi T - always a great suggestion!!
Hi Megan - thanks for your suggestion. I have been tempted to read this one before and have heard lots of great things about it.
It's awful when your fallback activities just aren't as relaxing as you'd like. I'd recommend 'The Little Lady Agency' by Hester Browne if you're into chick-lit or 'Who Will Run the Frog Hospital' by Lorrie Moore/'BoyMeets Girl' by Ali Smith if you want something more literary, but smooth going.
Hi Jodie - thanks so much for these suggestions - I haven't heard of them before but I will check them out.
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