Reading Burnout

[mehastings]

Less than six months ago I posted that I was burned out on reading and needed a suggestion of something to read. I think it happened because I had read so many great books in such a short time period that everything I picked up looked like junk in comparison. Now, I'm finding myself with the opposite problem. I've read a number of mediocre books (that I expected to be good) in a row and just can't stand the thought of picking up another potential piece of garbage.

Luckily, I have a large pile of classics gathering dust waiting for me to read or re-read them. I know that Dumas, Hardy, Vonnegut and Hugo will never do me wrong.

Maybe I'm crazy and alone in this problem, maybe I'm not... Do the rest of you run into this? Or can you all happily plug along reading great books interspersed with dissapointing wastes of paper without getting bummed out about it?

 

[Fantasy Moon]

I experienced the similar burnout over the summer. I was looking forward to having three months of reading time, but most of the books I picked up did little for my interest. Heh, I finally find a good series at the end of my vacation though and can only finish half the books by the time that college classes begin again. *sigh* I can see myself on a rabid reading frenzy this winter once final exams are over.

 

[G4G]

No matter how good the books are that you're reading, if you read too much you're going to experience reading burnout. I try to vary with a 'heavy' read followed by a 'light' read, even when reading books by the same writer.

 

[abecedarian]

No matter how good the books are that you're reading, if you read too much you're going to experience reading burnout. I try to vary with a 'heavy' read followed by a 'light' read, even when reading books by the same writer.

Excellent advice! Its just like a diet of physical food for the body; the mind and soul needs variety too.

And sometimes, this reading burnout is a reaction to stress in the other areas of my life. Not that reading is not a stress reducer, but sometimes, there are just so many pulls on my attention, that reading HAS to take a back seat for a season. It isn't the end of the world, but it is something to be aware of. Perhaps these dry reading seasons are a gook time to scope out future reading journeys. Read a few book magazines, talk to other readers, add to your "candidates" list..

 

[G4G]

Sometimes i think the brain can only take so much. there have been times when I have books that I KNOW I'll enjoy, but i can't get into them.
I've never thought about outside things getting in the way of reading before. but i suppose it must be a factor, logically. hmm.

 

[Mari]

Well, any disappointing waste of paper bums me out (actually, it makes me get angry and throw it across the room); but I think I avoid the burnout you're talking about by having several books going at once. If I'm having too much of a good thing, or conversely, if a book I hope to finish is lagging at some point, I can shift to something else for a while. I sometimes dip into several books in one reading session. My reading habits can be quite scattered.

I also vary the books I read by type--fiction, non-fiction, poetry--and this helps keep things fresh too.

 

[Wabbit]

I get burned out with reading too. There is such a thing as too much of a good thing. I find just giving reading a rest for awhile does the trick

 

[SFG75]

It' not too uncommon for me to start and then leave a book for another, and then another, and then another. To me, this is a sign that the books aren't that good. some books you just have to read half-way through in order to understand what it is. I absolutely hate it when books are fairly repetitive and add little insight. What is even more enraging is when the cat is let out of the bag in the introduction and then the subsequent chapters are spent hashing and re-hashing the main premise. This applies mostly to non-fiction works in my past experience.

 

[Twilite]

I don't recall ever getting burnt out, but I go through phases when I read a lot, and others when I don't read much at all. This is sometimes because I'm too busy to read but other times it's just because I don't feel like it, maybe that's a similar thing.
Some books I know are very good I just can't get into and have to let rest; it's not always the book's fault (as much as you can blame a stack of paper!) just other things going on that make, consciously or otherwise, reading not too appealing.
Similar experience, or completely off topic I'm not so sure, but who knows!