The last year (and a bit) has been a rollercoaster, and a lot of it the not fun kind.
Towards the end of 2017 I was diagnosed with depression and anxiety, and left my place of work due to my manager's response to that fact - both within a few short weeks. It was a truly awful time, added to by starting antidepressants, which whilst ultimately a saving grace, provided an additional challenge during the first few weeks as I tried to find some sort of equilibrium.
Part of my depression manifested in not being able to read. I couldn't settle to anything for more than a page or two at a time, and having that support system of books taken away at a time when I needed it most was really difficult.
However, at the start of this year, as I took some much needed time out to try and piece myself back together again, and the tablets started to do what they were meant to, I found a little corner of myself I recognised - the one that wanted to read again.
Whilst I've not read with the usual speed and intensity as I used to, having that piece of myself back has been a huge relief. Something that I now take less for granted. One that I've then been able to branch out into actually reviewing books again - this site had gone unused for far too long.
So whilst this time last year I was an absolute mess, over the last twelve months the good has outweighed the bad, and the to read pile has slowly been tackled.
I want to thank you, dear reader, for sticking through the quiet patches where this space wasn't used, and for coming back to hear my thoughts on books and TV and films in the last few months. It means a lot to me.
I also want to open up a line of communication for anyone who is struggling with mental health. I'm trying to talk more about mine, to try and remove some of the taboo around it, and part of what really helped me was having people around me who had been through similar things and could offer me understanding and support. So if you need someone to talk to, use any of the listed ways to contact me - I will always be here.
Happy new year everyone, I hope the next 12 months bring you wonderful books to read and happiness, even when it may not feel like that is possible.
Everyone has reading slumps, periods of time where life catches up and you don't have time to read, or the motivation to pick up a book vanishes.
It's frustrating, particularly when you read on a regular basis and books are usually your outlet for escaping life.
I've been going through a reading slump recently (you may have been tipped off by the lack of posts going up on here!) where real life has reared its ugly head and I just haven't had the energy to pick up a book and escape for a while. So below I'm listing three tips for getting out of a reading slump.
1. Re-Visiting Old Favourites
Sometimes I look at my to read pile and no matter how much I want to read the books in there I cannot muster the motivation to pick up something there. Instead all I want to do is re-visit some of my favourite books: Harry Potter, The Scorpio Races, Julia Quinn, Deanna Raybourn. All favourite that I know inside and out and can provide a sense of comfort when I pick them up again. Sometimes spending some time with a book I know and love can be all the nudging I need to get me back in a reading frame of mind and back to my pile of books waiting to be read.
2. Focus on Something Else
When I'm not reading I love watching TV shows. I have a whole host of favourites that I love watching, and sometimes my brain needs a break from reading so I turn to TV. Sometimes taking a step back and doing something else, allowing my brain to recharge and stop thinking about books for a while is all I need to nudge me back again. Find the other things that you love to do when you're not reading and bring them to the fore for a while. Give your brain a break from books and soon enough you'll find yourself itching to get back to your to read pile.
3. Decide to take a step back
This particularly applies to book bloggers, because often the wanting to read is all tied up with the feeling like we need to blog. So when I'm struggling to read and review, instead of making myself feel guilty for not doing it I deliberately take a step back and decide to take a few days off. That lifting of pressure, even if it only lasts a few days is usually enough to get me wanting to read and review again and even if I've given myself a few weeks away I'm usually back and reading/reviewing in a couple of days.
There you have my top three tips, now I would love to hear from you guys! What do you do to get out of reading or blogging slumps? Do you have things that you do or try to avoid doing? Or any books you pick up to try and get you back in the reading mood? Let me know in the comments below.
So you may have noticed the somewhat sporadic posting over the last year or so, as I fell off the radar, attempted to climb back onto it and failed spectacularly by going straight back into hospital. Basically I should never say I'm back, it is guaranteed to jinx it, I should just sidle back in when no-one is paying any attention...
It was quite an interesting time, because I was suddenly faced with multiple crises all at the same time, and for the first time in my life I reacted in a different way to usual. I stopped reading. I have so many books, I constantly have one in my bag or within easy reach just in case I get a spare two minutes to read a couple more pages. At no point ever in my life have I gone so long without picking up a book. I tried, oh believe me I tried. I tried new books, but they were usually discarded within a page, three pages, several chapters slogged over several months. I tried old favourites and could usually manage to get about half way through before giving up, but nothing managed to stick with me until the end.
Which meant I had an awful lot of free time to spend pondering all the things I really didn't want to think about that had caused the reading crisis in the first place.
It was a really pretty awful time, although some of the things that have come out of it have made up for it in spades. But it meant that I started trying to find new ways to fill in the gap that the books had left.
I went back to audiobooks. Although there was never anything so exciting as listening to a new book, I listened to my three favourites 'The Scorpio Races' by Maggie Stiefvater, 'Graceling' and 'Fire' by Kristin Cashore. I can now pretty much recite them all word for word from memory. It became one of my favourite things to curl up at night with my headphones in and disappear to Thisby or The Dells, or the Seven Kingdoms. They were familiar, and something about having someone else read the story to me was comforting, and snuck them in around the reading block.
Then there were the TV shows. I've always had a couple that I followed avidly and loved, but suddenly I was watching so many more, and boy was this the year to get invested in American TV. There was such a wide breadth of variety across the board. The staple supernatural in 'The Vampire Diaries' and 'The Originals', and boy did 'The Originals' knock it out of the park in its first season. It started off as quite a safe predictable show, and within a few episodes had completely twisted everything on its head and turned into one of the most compelling shows out there.
Then we had 'Starcrossed' sadly only for one series before it was cut. The incredible period drama 'Reign' which will get its own blog post because it was so incredibly awesome, detailing the life of Mary Queen of Scots when she was a teenager at French court. 'The Witches of East End', based on the novel by Melissa de la Cruz and due back for its second season this Sunday. Third seasons of both 'Revenge' and 'Once Upon a Time', of course the brilliant and breath taking fourth season of 'Game of Thrones' and a new discovery for me 'Sleepy Hollow' which I am currently forgoing sleep to plough through.
And finally after months of ignoring my books and watching TV shows and listening to audiobooks, I was stuck in hospital again and very, very bored, when I felt the first stirrings of wanting to read. I begged The Boy to bring me the first three Harry Potter's to re-read and to my surprise, devoured them. Once I got home I worked my way through the rest of the series, finding comfort in some very old friends. And once I'd finished? I picked up a new book.
Since then I haven't stopped, I've been working my way through books I have been desperate to read for months, consuming words like someone who has been starved for the last year. I can't put into words how relieved I am to finally be able to enjoy reading again, and to know that I will finish a book that I start. It felt like I'd lost access to a part of me that I'd taken for granted, and I am so grateful to have it back.
But whilst I missed all the books during that year, I loved discovering so many new things. Now it's just trying to find a balance between the two!
Which brings me, in a very roundabout way to the question I wanted to pose through this post. Have you ever had a patch where you couldn't read, or where you didn't want to? And what did you do to help yourself through it, and did you find other things in the process?
The last year (and a bit) has been a rollercoaster, and a lot of it the not fun kind.
