I was looking back on the books that I read in 2013. 2013 was one giant book rut for me. With a couple of exceptions (such as my binge on Star Cursed and Dark Triumph in June), I just didn't enjoy a lot of the books I read. I think this is why I was in such a rut. You can only read so many books you don't enjoy before reading becomes a tedious chore.
I want 2014 to be a better, more enjoyable year for reading. I don't request many ARCs, so it really don't have an obligation to read anything in particular. I want to go back to the days where I read books because I was legitimately interested in the story, not because I feel like I *need* to review it.
To go along with this, I often feel like I have an obligation to finish books. I have a hard time justifying my ability to put a book down. I'm not the fastest reader, and I need to review it. This is the mentality I have gotten myself into. It sucks. Maybe if I read faster, it wouldn't be such a deal. I cannot read 150+ books per year like some people. In 2014, I want to escape this way of thinking. I would rather write a DNF post about why a book just wasn't for me than a negative review about why I really disliked a book.
Negative reviews are a thing that just have to exist. There is no avoiding them. No one wants to write them, but I feel like we have an obligation to be honest in our reviews. I wrote way more negative reviews last year than I wanted to.
This extends into the fact that I have been overthinking about what I read. I've felt like I've had to write deep, thought-provoking reviews. Yes, that's great and all, but that isn't me.
Therefore, for 2014, I am going to stop overthinking and be okay with the DNF. I want to enjoy reading again, not feel like it's an obligation.
Have any of you guys felt like reading had become a chore? How did you deal with this?
I know you can do it! I have the same issues as you...I don't like DNFing a book because it just feels wrong or I feel obligated, but I need to change that, and I too will overthink when writing my review, thinking it needs to be super deep, but really I'm writing these reviews for fun and to tell people what I thought of the book, and that I think is good enough.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with this :) I'm attempting a similar thing this year, although it's not because reading has become a chore for me - I just have way too many books on my TBR bookshelves to justify requesting any more! I do get into lots of reading slumps though, so I'm taking more blogging breaks to work on that. I'm hoping to stop requesting ARCs all together by the end of this year, although I'm taking it slow right now :D
ReplyDeleteI know exactly what you mean, and it's amazing how much feeling like you 'have' to read can be a total mood killer. I've been trying to not request much on NetGalley this year, because I was feeling completely overwhelmed by it. I thought I was doing pretty well, but what I didn't expect was to then end up in a reading slump from pressuring myself to read a non-review copy. I'd always planned to read The Book Thief before going to see the film, and I'd barely started it when I got a last minute invite to go and see the film. I spent a miserable, frantic, 48 hours trying to get engrossed in it, at a time I really wasn't feeling it, and when all I could focus on was that I 'had' to get finished in time. I eventually ended up seeing the film before I finished the book, but then I kept trying to pick up the book. Once I eventually faced up to the fact now just wasn't the right time, it took a while of mood reading to start feeling back on track and in the mood for reading again.
ReplyDeleteI think it's great that you're willing to DNF a book if you really can't get on with it. I think the worst thing is how long it can take to shake a reading slump off once you've dug yourself into one, and it's your time. Life's too short to struggle on with a book when you really aren't feeling it!