Reader’s Block
No lie, I’m having the worst case of reader’s block. For those that have never heard of this affliction before, it’s kind of like writer’s block but for readers. You pick up a book, settle in to read, but just can’t concentrate past the first few sentences.
That’s me. Right now. I have this book and I just. Can’t. Get. Into it! It’s not bad. But it’s not great either. It’s sort of like that friend on Facebook that shares stuff like: “Did all the laundry (folded and put away too!), went to the grocery store, got my oil changed, and now I’m making beef stew for dinner!” You’re left feeling like, “Okay? And?” That is if you even actually read the post and don’t scroll past like I do.
No offense to those that post things like that! It’s just not something that makes for a very interesting read. That’s basically all this book is from what I can tell. It’s done in diary entries and I’m over 100 pages in and there doesn’t appear to be a plot. Just this girl’s day-to-day activities. I started it nearly a year ago and I’m still only 150 pages in… *groans* I read some, put it down, read and finish something else, pick it back up until I’m bored to tears, put it back down, and the cycle repeats.
I wish I could quit. I know many friends do when they run across a book like this but I can’t. I don’t think it’s in my DNA. It’ll probably take me all of this year too, but I’m determined to finish the damn thing! Then promptly donate it. There’s no way it’s staying on my shelves taking up precious space. I’ve only DNF’d one book in my life and it was way worse than this one so I think (hope!) I can suffer through.
I’ve already decided to give myself goals. 25 pages here and there until it’s over. All the while reading something I know I’ll love so much more. Pray for me. Haha!
What do you do when this happens? Do you power through or give up? Share some titles that made you want to claw your eyes out.
Adventures (& Misadventures) of a Wandering Reader 
I’ve experienced this a number of times. Usually I’ll just skim-read the rest of the book so I can get a gist of the story and ending without too much time invested – because I too have difficulty DNFing a novel. Though I have abandoned a few reads: restarting them 3 times before giving up completely because I just couldn’t get into it. But if I’m having difficulty starting any books, I’ll keep scrolling through the TBR shelf until something grabs my attention and leave the discarded ones back on the shelf to tackle later. Mainly because I’m a mood reader and some days I just need that perfect book to fall into. I don’t let it stress me out, I’ve frequently discovered a great read because of the weird mood I’m in. But for those not-so-good reads you just need to finish… thank goodness for the skim method of reading!
I ended up DNFing World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War; and have skimmed nearly all of the novels rated 2 stars or lower on my Goodreads page. I like to give everything a decent chance and look for both the good and bad in a novel. Everything can be a learning experience on how to improve my own writing 😉