6
FROM THE SHELF
AUG. 17�24
CHECKING OUT THE
WORLD OF BOOKS
10 tips to get yourself out of a reading slump
If you can’t settle on a
book, try one of these
suggestions
By Laurie Hertzel
Star Tribune
It might be the weather — sultry, lush
and ripe. It might be the season — late
summer, golden days to relish before the
imminent big freeze. Or it might be that I
sort of OD’d on books when I was on va-
cation, reading three normal-sized novels
plus the entirety of “Bleak House.”
But whatever the reason, I have been
having a hard time lately settling on
something to read.
This happens to all of us from time to
time. I wrote about this fi ve years ago, and
it occurred to me the other day that the
tips I came up with then might be useful
to revisit.
So I revisited my reading slump avoid-
ance tips, and they weren’t bad. But they
did need some tweaks. Here they are,
updated and tweaked and hopefully more
practical than ever.
1. If you can’t get into something long,
try reading something short. Stories
from a collection, maybe. Or a poem. At
the moment I am reading the essays in
Charles Baxter’s “Wonderlands.” It’s not
a book to race through. Read one, walk
away for a few days, think.
2. Reread an old favorite. Every sum-
mer, I revisit a book from my childhood. I
‘IONA IVERSON’S RULES FOR COMMUTING’
I was delighted to see
Clare Pooley’s novel “Iona
Iverson’s Rules for Com-
muting” in these sugges-
tions. I gave up on a book
recently, and picked up
Pooley’s book from my
embarrassingly tall stack
of library books (all of my
holds came in at once). This
novel is mostly set on a
train, where perfect strang-
ers ride the same route day
Laurie Hertzel/Minneapolis Star Tribune/TNS
after day but never interact
Tons of books, but nothing to read?
— until one of them chokes
on a grape, and a group is united by the crisis.
They begin learning about each other’s lives, and discover their preconceived
notions weren’t accurate at all.
I’ve never commuted by train. I’ve never commuted at all, unless the one mile
trip from home to offi ce counts (and even that disappears when I work from
home). This novel is a fun look into a diff erent type of life, and a reminder that
sometimes we can change a life by a simple smile or word that shows we care.
— Lisa Britton, Go! editor
spent a recent Saturday with Sally Wat-
son’s “Witch of the Glens,” a fi ne YA book
set in Scotland in 1644, even though I
know it so well by now I have sections
memorized.
3. Put away the book that you are
obligated to read — for work, for school,
for book club — and indulge in something
for pleasure. Me, I just read “The Hero of
This Book,” the new novel by Elizabeth
McCracken (it pubs in October). Just
because I wanted to.
4. Browse your shelves. You have
books you bought and haven’t yet gotten
to — surely something will tempt you.
(You might even think about culling a bit
while you’re browsing. But that, of course,
is a diff erent problem.)
5. Visit a library or a bookstore. See
if you are tempted by displays, staff
recommendations, stacks of the latest
bestsellers.
6. Binge on something else — cross-
word puzzles, or Scrabble, or episodes
of “Ted Lasso” until you are so sick of
whatever it is that you become desperate
to get back to books. (In retrospect, I am
not sure I agree with this tip. What if you
start bingeing on television — and never
get back to books?)
7. Watch a movie version of a book.
Any excuse, really, to rewatch “Persua-
sion” with Ciaran Hinds.
8. Read something light. Don’t be
ashamed to read a book that is purely
entertaining. We all need to laugh. How
about “Iona Iverson’s Rules for Commut-
ing”? Great fun.
9. Listen to an audiobook. This is
advice I have not yet taken myself. One
of these days I’m going to fi gure out the
public library Libby app, I swear.
10. When all else fails, give in to the
slump and go ride your bike. You’re a
reader, and eventually your desire to read
will return.
Maybe you have better ideas. (You
almost certainly have better ideas.) Write
me at books@startribune.com and help
a girl out. I’ll run your suggestions in a
future column.
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