Time Travel discussion

What do you do about burn-out (book-related)?

Do you ever have a reading slump where nothing is able to please you? Do you ever find yourself writing shorter and/or fewer reviews than you want to? Do you look at your to-read list and find titles you don't remember adding? Do you feel that you have too many groups, too many topics, too many challenges, too many Books of the Month?

If so, does it bother you? Are you able to figure out a cause? Or come up with a cure?

All of the above. No idea why. Not too bothered by it. This too shall pass...Carry on! :)

If I am in a reading slump I usually turn to my cozy murder mysteries. They are like a popcorn snack between a big meal. I don't have time to write large reviews so mine tend to be short or just a star rating review.

I have found some surprises on my to-read list. Free Amazon books I forgot I was planning on reading. (Mostly cozy murder mysteries) I am in three local book clubs and this on-line book club so I don't think it is too many. It is challenging to be in three that meet in person. I can't always attend.

As for challenges, I have only myself to blame and I usually complete them. However, The Storygraph's Read the World challenge is more difficult for me than most since it is books in a specific place in the world and people put whatever they want to read in the prompts that don't actually fit. So, after reading Black Cake I figured out that it doesn't qualify after all and I ended up reading River Sing Me Home which was about Trinidad & Tobago. Others just felt the Caribbean was the Caribbean I guess. But both were enjoyable so it was all good.

I need to participate in fewer Books of the Month and fewer Challenges. I feel obligated to finish what I started, which adds to my stress levels. And when stressed, and also when not reading books I chose for myself, I definitely tend to burn out. But I don't skip reviews, I pat myself on the back for that!

When I get into a reading slump, sometimes I try to power through and force myself to finish books I'm not really all that interested in. (I have a hard time giving up once I've invested time.)

But sometimes it is just a matter of trying lots of books until I find the one I can't put down and that gives me the fuel to power through some of the unfinished ones. I usually have lots of books going at once in all different formats and genres.

"gives me the fuel to power through"
I like that. I feel that I've probably experienced that, without understanding what was going on. Thanks!

I haven't had a true burn-out from reading yet. Usually life decides to hijack my free time before I can get too worn out. But I do have a couple strategies for this that I do already to stave off fatigue.

1) Reread favorites. I'll go back to some of my favorite books and reread at least one every year.
2) Change up formats. Similar to Samantha's response If I've been listening to a lot of audio, I switch to include more Kindle or traditional books. Or I'll relax on a genre that has been getting all my attention.

Good advice.
Now, what to do about time taken up by pesky real life stuff. Let's talk about that in next week's QotW. :)