I told my people today, writing in a book club about your inability to read books is a classic. And it’s not much that I’m willing to dwell on. But yeah, I believe writing about something that disturbs you is your first and best way to liberation. So this is me, writing about my sudden inability to pick up books.
Okay guys, I’m in a bit of a book slump. I don’t know if I should call it a bit because I’m becoming glaringly aware of it. One of the biggest reasons why I would usually get into a book slump is a bad book or a draining book. The first being that the book bored the life out of me and because I couldn’t flow with the book, I dropped and dropped the thought of reading any other book alongside.
And the second one being that reading that book drained me too much emotionally. Maybe the catharsis wasn’t enough to heal me or the book was that deep that I couldn’t recover in time, purge myself in time, to be able to pick up another book. I’ve had an experience like this when I read “Desperation” by Stephen King and “Divine Evil” by Nora Roberts.
I didn’t seem to be able to pick up another book for weeks because those books took something from me that I couldn’t get back. You know those books that even though you enjoyed it to no ends, you end up wondering whether you would have been better off if you didn’t read them? Yeah, these were the books and I fell into a slump like no other book wise.
But now, in a bid to therapize myself, I’m thinking of what the possible reason for this book slump is. The last book I read was stellar, by my standards and it took nothing deep from me emotionally. I even felt somewhat sated afterwards so why did I pick up a book that is deemed by everyone to be a stellar novel and my eyes are already beginning to glaze over, for the past week or so....
And then I tried to pick up another book, and I felt physically exhausted and exasperated even as I opened the cover page. Frustrated beyond belief, I closed my book reading app and went to sleep. So that’s how it’s been for the past week or so. Maybe it’s something more internal. Although I did resume these series that I used to enjoy in the past, I’m not a movie person. Always been a bookie at heart. Or I guess I need a change of schedule.
What I’ve been doing, however, in between my little book hiatus (that is very much not self induced), is downloading even more books. I’m not sure how that helps, but I can’t resist downloading a book if it speaks to me in some way. Cause whether or not I’m having a book slump, Booktok continues bringing more and more books, as well as other bibliophiles I know, recommending book after another.
So yeah, even though, I started getting pissed off while reading the first couple of chapters of Legachi, a very popular book on the streets of Nigerian Booktok, I know I can’t give up downloading more books with the hope that I’d find one that will rope me in like a vine. I wish it would be easier switching up and immediately going crazy on my novels after writing this, I’m realistic enough to know that it won’t be that simple, especially since I’m beginning another phase of my life. Or am I just being a pessimist?
We’ll see. But for now, it’s onto new chapters. And hopefully, I’ll have a book worth sharing to you guys. Wish me good luck. Let’s hope I wake up from this slump in time not to lose touch of my book side completely.
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