What do you do when you get into a reading slump? 

I pick up a book to read--read about a chapter then say " I don't want to read this!"   I really hate to say this { and this has never happened to me before } but I think I have been reading too much.  I have been laid-off from work since before Christmas so I get up straighten the house up then read.. Too cold to go outside., I live with 2 dogs and 1 cat so they don't mind if I read and I have caught up on a lot of my TBR pile but now I am having trouble finding something I want to read.  So does anyone else ever get like this and if so what do you do about it?  I love to read, and it is driving me crazy trying to find something I want to read.

HELP!!!

Yeah I've had that where everything that I pick up just seems wrong and goes nowhere. That's when I go to my keeper shelf and pick something that I know I will love and enjoy. Sometimes I get burned out on a  genre and a good swift switch to something else is all that it takes to get me back to reading.

That happens to me periodically.  I guess I just look for something I do want to read.  I was in a major slump in December, and kind of came out of it by going back to an author I loved (Tanya Huff).  I finished off the month with two of her books, and that got the ball rolling.  January has been a pretty good month for me.

i was recently in a bit of a slump myself.  for a couple of days i mostly did other things in the evenings when i usually read - watched tv, played and old video game, just something else for a while.  i did read a little, but not a lot.  it did seem to work.

Dogs love to be read to.  Shifting to reading outloud (usually while pacing) will help me when I'm restless.  Great when you are stuck inside waiting for something or someone.  With me, the air pressure of storms will make me twitchy, but the bad weather keeps me stuck inside.  All those cabin fever feelings work themselves out.  It also changes my perspective on an author as hearing the words brings out the meter.

I usually pick up a totally different kind of book from what I've been reading for a break. 

I have been locked into the paranormals for a bit now and had to give it a rest:lol:   Moved sideways to a historical then some horror.  I am also a plant/garden person and my catalogs,  both online and regular, are popping up so I'm all over the place looking at them and trying to decide what I want versus what I have room for:lol:   Hmmm...sort of like my books really....
Didn't take long and I'm back to finishing whatever I pick up:)  Hang in there!

I go thru slumps at least once or twice a year. Usually I watch TV or do something different. Sometimes I just get tired of books that are all the same genre so I read something different like historical fiction or mystery. If I'm in the mood to read but nothing really catches my interest I have a tendency to go to category romance. I'm still reading but I don't really have to think too much about it.

When that happens to me, I try switching genres and see if that helps. Sometimes I overdose on cozies or paranormals and decide to read a straight mystery or fiction. It usually helps. Otherwise, I go fool around with my genealogy, scrapbooking, or other hobby and come back a day or tow later and start again....refreshed.

I pet my books until one jumps out at me

When I get burnt out on reading I just play a new video game (I've got Fallout 3 going at the moment) or find a TV series to get into. I try not to read too many of the same genre in a row, I find that gets me burnt out pretty quickly.

I get that way when I am reading a lot quickly to get them out in games or something. What I do is go to an author that I know is a really easy read that will flow quickly and keep me entertained without much work. Sometimes switching genres will help too. MJD is a good one for me to break out of a slump. She's funny and light  and I can breeze through a book in a couple of hours. If I've read too much paranormal I will go to a Wanda Brunstetter or a cozy mystery. If I just cannot get into reading, I take a break with puzzles.

I go through long periods where I'm in a slump.  I just got back on track this past, hmmm, September I guess and I have probably read well over 100 books since then, easy.  Then last week I went through a slump.  Even books I wanted to read I couldn't get interested.  So I relaxed for a couple days and then next thing I knew, I was back into reading books I couldn't put down.  Now, I'm neglecting my work again :-(

When I start getting into a slump I switch it up a bit.  I switch genres.....I have a lot of YA books around because of the bookswap...I will pick one of these up because they are usually easy reads and then I can give the kids my critique on the book if they are considering it.  My incentive is to either read a book to post on PBS, or read a book that will go to Bookswap.  If I just can't read, then I will get a book on CD because it helps me to have something to listen to in the car.  I will also do the TV series...I usually get it from the library so I have several episodes I can watch in a row without commercials.  I enjoyed the "Dead like me" series...It made me sad that its not on anymore.  I have read a lot more since I got my light wedge...."I love that lighty thing".

Kim, you sound a lot like me. I read so fast that most of my friends just look at me and say " Diane how many books do you read in a week.,"  and I tell them " as many as I can get my hands on" 

But about the slump thing, I think I read too many vampire books in a row and just needed a break from vampires. I love to read series books and I can't find one I want to read that doesn't include vampires. I have some books  on their way to me so hopefully one of them will click, until then I will try to get some work done since I usually neglect the house when I find a series I want to read.  

Can anyone recomend a good series that doesn't include vampires??

I have been going through that slump of nothing seems interesting right now, too.  So I re-read some of my favorites from the keeper shelf.  I re-read in a weekend the entire series (9 books) that I had read over Christmas.  I read lots of book reviews over the internets.  I am back on track now and what got me going again was a book Amazon shipped that I didn't even know I had pre-ordered, a romance titled The Sins of Lord Easterbrook.  Now I've got 24 books on my enroute to me list.  I ordered 10 from book sellers if I could find them for .01.   And the sun is shining again.....

Diane,

Have you read the Lords of the Underworld series by Gena Showalter?  AWESOME.  And they're about demons, not vamps.   I'm sure you've probably read the Mercy Thompson books, although to me they lack in the romance department, but good all the same.  There are a lot of series that have vamps in them, but more so in the background and not the main focus.

Don't get me wrong, I am a total vamp whore when it comes to books, but sometimes it does seem a little redundant.  A lot of the stuff has the same air to it, but slightly different.  For instance, with BDB and Midnight breeds, both books about Warriors, and the mate thing is always the same, blah blah blah, but I like how the BDB vamps are able to eat, don't know why, but I like that about them and they only like to drink from their own kind.

I just finished re-reading a number of books in a series that I was sending out to a requestor here - sort of like a last farewell, but also because I was kind of sick of starting new books that I haven't been that interested in reading.  But now I'm kind of raring for something new to read.

I'm in a slump at the moment too -- I've got a jillion books here that I want to read but I just can't seem to pick any of them up!  Maybe I have cabin fever.  Well, I know I do, it's just a matter of whether it's messing with my reading habits!

I've been relistening to some audios I really love, but that almost seems to be making it worse.  It's like all the new books have more to live up to in comparison! 

I get in these slumps too.I'll start book after book and nothing will hold my interest.I usually switch to crossword puzzles or video games (im obsessed with hidden object games at teh moment).All of these are hard on my eyes and soemtimes my eyes just NEED a break!!

Stacy

I have been in a mini slump lately as well.. could it be pre-spring fever? Ya know what I have been doing, I have been skipping through my books and reading the late middle or end.. I hate when I do it but sometimes can't help it! lol

I need to switch to audio books for a week or two (I have 2 from the library) then I will be okay again..

I pet my books until one jumps out at me

Ashley - that is too funny - I do that too!!! 

Gosh - I haven't been in a slump since ......I don't remember!  Before I joined PBS and another site, I would only have maybe 8 or 10 books at a time around that I hadn't read.  Now - it's more like 300!!!  Sometimes it worries me that I will never get them all read, but, at least I always have something around that sounds interesting!  I do have mostly Paranormals and Eroticas, but I still look for the occasional chick-lit, mystery, sci-fi, or horror.

OK I tried petting my books and that didn't work.  I tried different genre  that didn't work. I tried old favorites that didn't work. So I just quit reading for a couple of days and got caught up on some work that seemed to help.

I think it was more cabin fever than anything else, I hate cold weather and not being able to get outside.  Since I have not been working I had to work off some excess energy  by exercising and doing more work at home.

Thanks everybody for all the suggestions