How I Ended My Un-Endable Reading Slump

“The last book I read was Percy Jackson;”

I thought I would never feel more embarrassed than having to say that sentence aloud as a 22-year-old woman. In reality, my paramount embarrassment came a month prior, as I stood silently amongst my friends as they recounted the books they were currently devouring. I prayed I blended into the foreground and they would forget my very presence, but as they turned to me, I was forced to admit my literary shortcomings and I knew I had failed in more ways than one.

“I haven’t read a book in 2 years.”

Slump Happens

I was forced to read, of course, in multiple college courses. From textbooks to excerpts to novels to biographies, my life was not completely void of reading. Yet, I found myself thinking back to the early years of adolescence when reading was a larger part of my life. When I would choose to finish a book over a good night’s rest. When I would sit uncomfortably on the hard, carpeted floor in the back corner of Barnes & Noble and read a book cover to cover. When boredom would overcome me and I’d open my phone to scroll Wattpad, not Tiktok.

Perhaps it was the increasing mental and academic load of college or maybe my gradually growing obsession with social media, but reading had slowly lost its importance in my life. I found my relationship with books had fizzled out with each blow of the birthday cake. I hadn’t picked up a book on my own accord in years. And it took having to admit it out loud to change it.

Reigniting the Flame

I knew that I wanted to start reading again, but I had no idea where to start as well as nothing to incentivize me to do so. So I started with my easiest form of media consumption: film. 

Almost as much as I loved to read, I used to love watching movies. The silver lining to production studios running out of ideas is the increased amount of films and TV series based on books! There were a couple that I had already watched such as “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before,” the big three dystopian trilogies (“The Hunger Games,” “Divergent” and “Maze Runner”), and the infamous “Harry Potter.” 

Knowing that I already greatly enjoyed these movies sparked my interest in the stories. So I started with a re-read of some of these book-to-film adaptations. Additionally, as the authors continued to publish spinoffs and continuations of the story, I was able to consume those books as well, pushing me to read my first set of new books.

When the Disney adaptation of Percy Jackson was released and showrunners announced it would be more book-accurate than the previous movies released years prior (plot-wise) I decided that I wanted to read the books to fully appreciate the show. This led to me not only reading the first five books, but also the next five books of the spinoff series–all within a month.

Accessible Reading is Easy Reading

As artsy Tumblr 2012 it would be to carry a book around with me everywhere I went, this just wasn’t realistic for me. Despite my preference for physical books, I recognized that e-books downloaded to my phone would not only help me read more, but also curb some of my other social media consumption at the same time. 

I downloaded books for free from places such as Libgen or Z-library onto my phone so that I could access them whenever the urge came over me. I set a screen time limit on my phone that would block any social media apps after a certain point and would send me to my Books app instead. My late-night scrolling became late-night page flipping.

Putting the Joy Back Into Reading

Somewhat counter-effective to my social media cleanse was my download of Goodreads, an online community of book lovers where I could track the books I’ve read and want to read, read and write reviews, and interact with my friends. This helped me feel like I wasn’t alone in my reading and I could participate in challenges and conversation around books that I’ve enjoyed. 

Currently, I can’t say that I’m reading the most intellectual of books. As of now, Ali Hazelwood and Rick Riordan trump Woolf, Bronte and Dickens. The best way I got back into reading was by choosing fun, digestible books that I knew wouldn’t lose my interest. But the hope is that once I rebuild my habit of reading, I can expand my genres and choose more purposeful books that I can enjoy in a different type of way. 

What matters now is my relationship with books is slowly mending, and my un-endable slump has met its match.

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