Monday 24 November 2008

Help! I've lost it!

What have I lost? My ability to sit down with a book. That's what I've lost.

Books and reading are a lifeblood for me. Books take me away from my life and into another world. Somewhere I can escape to and become lost in, if only for 10 minutes before I go to sleep. Reading relaxes me and helps me switch off from the day.

But over the last month or so I have picked up and started five books and then put them down again because nothing is gripping me. I have at least a dozen books sitting here waiting to be read and one I am at least half way through, and I think it is that book that is the cause of the problem. It is the second in a very long series and half way through I reached an impasse. The characters aren't reaching out to me and the storyline is slow to develop. I've reached a particularly difficult chapter where the characters are just doing something really silly. I know if I can just get past this chapter, it will all start to fall into place and I will once again become gripped by it. But everytime I try I end up throwing the book down after a few lines.

I'm tired, irritable and out of sorts and I'm sure it's partly because instead of reading and relaxing before I go to sleep, I'm doing crosswords and Suduko puzzles, stimulating my brain which is resulting in a bad night's sleep.

If anyone knows how to get me out of this rut, I'd be grateful for your advice. Even if it's just "get a grip, woman, there are more important problems to worry about"!

13 comments:

  1. Get a glass of wine, turn off the phone, make sure you have at least 20 minutes, and then power through the chapter where they are doing silly things! If at the end, they are still doing silly things, then chuck it in the bin, pick up an Anne McCaffrey and get back into reading that way!!

    Big hugs

    Niki xxx

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  2. I second what Niki said. Also, save the crosswords and sudokos for morning tea!

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  3. now this is a sad day -- (:

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  4. I say throw it aside and start another book that suits your fancy. Life is too short to read a book that doesn't envelop you in its characters and story.

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  5. I agree with Kaycie--there's too many good books and you seem to have very wide ranging taste. In fiction--as in a play--if you don't care about the characters why spend time with them?

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  6. Are you looking for suggestions of a book to read? I suggest "Girl With a Pearl Earring." If you haven't already read it. It is good.

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  7. Another day, another time, and that book wouldn't be the same problem to you. Put it away - you just aren't doing "Silly" at the moment!
    Thanks Angela for returning the DVD so quickly.

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  8. I go through phases like that - where I just can't find the right book. Elizabeth Berg does it for me - usually - otherwise, just try something completely different, as the others have said. Hope it comes back soon - I know what you mean, it's as if someone's cut off an arm or something.

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  9. Amritrav Ghosh - The Glass Palace

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  10. Angela, you've gone through some major changes lately, I think it may not be about the book(s), but about lack of focus, because too much is going on.

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  11. It happens. I always get in a slump when my favorite authors have nothing new to offer. It bites.

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  12. My problem is finding time to read. I try to read a couple of pages before going to sleep, but I have a night owl daughter with lots of homework from school & by the time I've got her to bed, I'm too shattered to snuggle with a book (& many dogs ~ I just get the dogs). I love my books & used to read so much. Still, daughter is 12 & she'll leave home soon enough, so I shouldn't complain too much & I have given her (& my other 2) a great love of books & reading. Even the dogs devour books (unfortunately they do it literally).

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