Around the end of March and beginning of April, I entered a serious reading (and blogging) rut. Nothing was interesting anymore. I tried serious fiction (Ben Okri's The Famished Road). I tried non-fiction (a biography of Benjamin Franklin). I tried magazines (my stack of New Yorkers to be read). Nothing worked.
So, for about a week, I gave up on trying and tried to think about the best solution. A reading rut is a terrible experience if you love to read. For me, reading is my escape, my pleasure, my relaxation. If it suddenly becomes uninteresting... well, it's like not wanting to eat anymore! What do you do if someone looses their appetite? You stop worrying about what's "good" food and start making their favorites, hoping something will work.
Well, last week, I pulled out one of my favorites and I am pleased to report that it worked. As of this morning at breakfast, I have finished rereading the first four Harry Potter books and have pulled the fifth off the shelf to start today. They have, without a doubt, become my fall back for reading ruts and it works every time. It's also a special treat for myself to read them one after another. In the past, I always felt like I was missing the details when the new book came out, but was too excited about reading it to worry. Now, there's real pleasure in having the story unfold and letting the details drop into place.
My current dilemma is thinking about what book to take with me next week, when I'll be flying to the US for a couple weeks. What are your favorite plane and reading rut books?
Definitely have to take at least 2 books on the plane - what if you take one and start reading it and then find out that you're just not in the mood? I've forced Grumpy to read Fountainhead (Ayn Rand) but he didn't really like it. Short good book I read recently was No Country for Old Men (much better than the, to be fair, good movie).
ReplyDeleteWill be facing the same problem next week as I go BUD-FRA-LHR-SIN-MEL in about a 44 hour time period. Whatlah?