Four Books That Helped Me Escape My Reading Slump

It has been an incredibly long time since I've felt like I've truly enjoyed reading again. Despite reading some books during the last few years, I would say that I was in a terrible reading slump as I could only get through 8-10 books a year. Those numbers aren’t bad, but I was more concerned about my lack of interest in reading and the significant time I spent doom scrolling. It was definitely a sad thing to realise and I did truly miss my passion for reading.

However, after almost 12-18 months of suffering through a massive reading slump, I was eventually rescued by the following books. They reignited my love for reading again and I could not be anymore grateful for it.

Black Sun (Between the Earth and Sky #1) by Rebecca Roanhorse

I cannot begin to explain how much I love this book. It had been sitting on my shelf for almost 2 years, so I decided to give it a go and was pleasantly surprised by how I was immediately invested and could not put the book down. Roanhorse brought to life a beautifully, tragic tale, driven by memorable characters and vivid and compelling storytelling. It had definitely been a long time since finding myself drawn to every character and attached to each journey. I thoroughly loved every single moment of this read.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Everyone in the book blog community would know of this book by now. I remember 11 years this was heavily spoken about and I am so glad I gave this a go. It was such a magical book to read, I fell in love with the world building and the characters really came to life for me. If you haven’t yet, this is a must read!

Stolen Focus: Why Can’t You Pay Attention by Johann Hari

Honestly, I don’t even know why I decided to or even when I purchased this but turns out I made the right decision. Johann Hari explains that this isn’t a self help book, however, I found it to be helpful in drawing attention to why we, as a generation, struggle to remain focused, are constantly being distracted and essentially being manipulated into behaving in this manner. I’ve always wanted to explore more non-fiction and enjoy Hari’s writing style, as it’s engaging and thought-provoking.

Conversations on Love by Natasha Lunn

This book is EVERYTHING. I strongly believe everyone would benefit in reading this at least once in their life. I know for sure I’ll be picking this up every once in awhile because it offers you so much perspective and understanding around love, relationships and identity at any stage in your life. Natasha Lunn put so much time and energy into this and I am so grateful she gave us the privilege to experience these interviews with her

Let me know what books have pulled you out of a bad reading slump?

Please keep an eye out for full reviews. I cannot wait to share my full thoughts with you all.

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The Astonishing Colour of After by Emily X.R Pan

Title: The Astonishing Colour of After

Author: Emily X.R Pan

Publication Date: March 20th, 2018

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Leigh Chen Sanders is absolutely certain about one thing: when her mother died by suicide, she turned into a bird.

Leigh, who is half Asian and half white, travels ot Taiwan to meet her maternal grandparents for the first time. There, she is determined to find her mother, the bird. In her search, she winds up chasing after ghosts, uncovering family secrets, and forging a new relationship with her grandparents. And as she grieves, she must try to reconcile the fact that ont he same day she kissed her best friend and longtime secret crush, Axel, her mother was taking her own life.

Review

The Astonishing Colour of After is a sad book. It's a bittersweet read about a young girl who tries to come to terms with the loss of her mother, questioning every moment that leads up to her death and everything that she will now have to face. I say bittersweet because underneath the grief, the guilt and the pain is a sense of hope, of renewal and of love.

 
The story itself progressed in a rather surprising way. I went into this expecting it to explore themes of loss, death and how to cope - a contemporary that would portray importance in relationships, what happens when you break and how to heal. TACA does this, it does. What I didn't expect though was the inclusion of magical realisim. Perhaps because I wasn't prepared for this aspect, as I kept reading, I found myself finding it harder to continue to connect with the story and the characters. My main issue lies in that I wasn't sure if I was meant to believe that what was happening to Leigh was real or rather a coping mechanism, something that was concocted from her imagination as a way to understand and process her emotions. I don't think there's anything wrong with imagining elaborate situations to cope with grief - everyone grieves differently - just in regards to the reading experience, I found that because I was questioning the plot constantly, it was jarring and I couldn't fully immerse myself into the book.

Despite how I felt reading this, it didn't take away from how beautifully written TACA was. X.R Pan's writing is vivid, easy to envision and I'm sure could draw on the feelings of many readers. She was able to depict the beauty of Taiwan, from the culture to the food and the small town that Leigh visits. I also loved how Leigh connected with not just her mother's family but her roots. I do think that the reading experience will be different for everyone, so whilst it may not have been amazing for me, it could be for you.

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