It’s time to change things. I have not really enjoyed sitting down and reading for a good while now. Reading was something I have loved since I was a wee girl lo, these many years ago. It was a regular part of my days, and I looked forward to the time I could sit down with my latest read and lose myself in the story. That’s not been happening. Now, even with a book I am enjoying written by a favorite author, I don’t look forward to picking it up again, and many times I just don’t. What happened?
I think I started looking at reading as a job, rather than fun. Reading challenges, TBR piles, even the Friday Reviews I have been doing on this blog were starting to weigh on me more than they should have. I was getting lost in the competition part of it all, and losing the because-I-want-to. I’d look at my list of books to read this year (yes, I make a list. I don’t always stick to it, but it gives me a place to start.), and it would look like I’d never get through it all. My list of books to review just got longer and longer, and I was feeling like I would never catch up. And the yearly reading challenge became an anchor dragging me down rather than motivating me. I would pick up a book and immediately start to think: “Ok, how many pages do I have to read today to keep me on track to finish this one and move on?” It was taking all the joy out of reading.
So, what did I do? For one, I dropped my reading goal for this year by about half. I haven’t eliminated it completely because it does give me something to aim for, but for now, at least, I don’t have to worry about page goals to stay on track. I’ve also decided that for the next while, I am going to read some lighter stories. I may tuck a more epic book in there, yes, but most of what I pick up is going to be more fun and less heavy. I’m not going to drop writing reviews completely, either, but I will probably not give every book a full, multi-paragraph review. What I will do is post mini-reviews of three or four books at a time. If I feel something needs more, for whatever reason, it will get more. I think making those changes will help bring some of the fun back to reading and make it less of a chore. At least, it already feels that way to me.
And now, it’s time to join Sir Percival, the elegant kitty detective in solving some mysteries!
My latest book is a collection of very short stories, half science fiction and half fantasy, called “Crossed Wires and Other Very Short Stories”. I have also written a few other short pieces, another collection, two novels, and an urban fantasy series. You can find most of them at Smashwords, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, and wherever e-books are sold. A few are also available from Amazon in paperback. My novel, “Circle Unbroken” is also on Kindle Unlimited, if that’s your reading preference. You can find out about all of them here.
There are also some stories you can read here on my site, mostly the yearly Halloween short I write, but there are a few others. You can read them from here
And So On... 
Sounds like you’re making the right moves. Hope it helps.When I get into a can’t-read state it’s usually stress from other stuff in life.
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Oh, stress played a role, for sure. Too much stuff going on in the last couple years. I think it all just got to be too much.
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