From readathons and reading challenges to new releases and navigating bookstores, some readers have tried just about anything to motivate themselves to read. But rumor has it, it can still be a struggle to pick up a book amidst the neverending chaos of the world.
If you, like me, are looking for creative ways to help with your book progress, check out these ten tips on how to get out of a reading slump and get ready to crush your reading goals! 🤩
10 Tips on How to Get Out of a Reading Slump✨
1. Design A Dream Book Day
Every reader experiences the disconnect between wanting to read and committing to read a book. When physically holding a book seems too daunting, designing a dream book day can be the perfect undertaking to liberate you from a reading slump.
Research fun activities and bookstores and engage with the excitement of the reading world without being required to pick up a book (yet!).
With this activity, you can participate at any level of engagement with no demand for commitment. Win-win! 😌 Don’t put too much pressure on yourself to complete those book challenges or reading goals; simply enjoy the world of books!
Here are some ideas you can add to your book day to get you started.
📚🏛️ Visit local independent bookstores: A visit to a cute indie bookstore? Sign us up! Check nearby bookstores for author events or promotions; who knows what good deals you might find.
🥐🌳 Add some bakeries, cafes, or picnics: Is there a better combo other than bookstores and bakeries?! Grab a delicious, sugary treat from an adorable little bakery before adventuring to your book destinations.
🤩🏛️ Explore out-of-the-ordinary libraries: The best architecture always seems to be found in libraries, so why not explore and admire some of the libraries near you? You can also do plenty of fun activities in libraries, so add some libraries to your book day route.
2. Participate In A Library Scavenger Hunt
“Libraries store the energy that fuels the imagination. They open up windows to the world and inspire us to explore and achieve, and contribute to improving our quality of life.”
– Sidney Sheldon
Standing among piles of books almost always encourages the urge to read. To push this feeling even further, you can spend an enjoyable afternoon surrounded by books and scavenging among them. Whether you search for authors or specific books, it can be fun to browse books without checking out any of them. You never know where you might find a new favorite read!
3. Complete A Book Series
Most book lovers can relate to the satisfaction of holding a completed book series. We all know the level of accomplishment that comes with owning and reading an entire series. 🥹 This could motivate you to find and collect those books from different stores. It’s exciting to choose a series and find those books in cute little indie bookstores, especially since there is no guarantee the bookstore will have all the books in the series.
Wanna take it to the next level? Reunite a series over states or countries! Finding a book series in all different languages is a challenging but quite rewarding task that will take you to one-of-a-kind bookstores as you travel the world.
By giving yourself an ongoing mission of finding a book series as you travel, you can ensure you’ll never miss out on exploring local bookstores and even stumble upon unique sites you’d never otherwise visit. 💙
4. Follow An Indie Bookstore Map
You may be familiar with National Indie Bookstore Day events, but have you ever participated in an indie bookstore passport adventure?
Many states have developed their own maps for local indie bookstores, so you can follow those maps in your state to explore new areas near you, or you can journey to another state for even more reading adventures. 😌
Some of these maps include additional activities to participate in at each bookstore, so be sure to check out the options for participation based on your area. Set goals and check off locations on the map as you journey forth. 🗺️
5. Create A Bookmark Collage
When you look at book-based art, you’ll get excited to read. So why not take it even further and create some book-based art yourself? 👀
Every reader’s book nook eventually gets overwhelmed with an extensive bookmark collection. This project could help you celebrate those collections and get you out of your reading slump.
Create a collage with your bookmarks and admire your collection and the stories shared within it. It can play as a piece of beautiful wall art or a functional organizer for your bookmarks. It’s nearly impossible not to start reading just by looking at that collage. 🔖
6. Traverse An Author Book Blurb Trail
Have you ever considered reading another book by an author just because someone quoted that author? Well, try out this activity, and you’ll experience it again! You can set a goal for yourself by going into your author’s book blurb trail or simply wait and see where it takes you. 😌
The mission is simple: read a book by an author who was quoted on the cover of the last book you read. Then, select your next book based on the authors quoted in your current book. Repeat this process until you’ve completed your goal. 🎯
7. Complete Reading Challenges
You’re probably no stranger to the millions of reading challenges in the world and on the internet. There are (luckily 😁) so many challenges that you can take part in. Whether you participate in challenges hosted by your local library or find a collection of reading tasks online, this activity might just be the boost to get out of your reading slump.
Try competing against friends and family, or create your reading challenges to accommodate your specific reading interests. If you complete these challenges with friends or family, you can add point totals for total pages read and challenges completed. ⭐ Pro tip: you can use the Bookly App to set reading goals and win challenges as you hit those goals.
Another fun reading challenge is looking for items to find in books. Make a list of random items (such as umbrella, lime, frying pan, you name it) and attempt to see as many items as possible in your books.
Whenever books seem complicated, this challenge can help you focus on the story while searching for those items. Easy does it, right?
8. Join A Book Club
This tip is typical for book lovers who might need extra motivation to branch out and read new books. We all want to share our love for reading, so use these creative book club ideas to spice up your reading habits and find new ways to read with others.
If you want to read with a whole bookish community for the whole month of September, you’re in luck! The Bookly Reading Lounge Discord Server is getting ready for the next Bookly Book Club edition. Check out all the details and what are the 2 books proposed on the server and tag along if you want to take part too; this month’s theme is 👻 horror 👻.
Start a book trading network among your book club members. 📚
Instead of discussing a single book at once, choose a different book per club member and rotate the books among the club members until everyone reads it. It allows you to choose from many options instead of being forced to read a specific book you might not be in the mood for.
Another option that works incredibly well for book clubs – especially long-distance groups – is annotating books and sending them to members. Multiple books can be in rotation simultaneously, and each member will take their time for their personal reading preferences.
Having a written discussion among the pages is more productive than remembering every detail to discuss during a book club meeting. Share all the thoughts you want without worrying over limited meeting time. The annotated book could also be a lovely souvenir from the book club that you can always look back at later.
Blind swap book recommendations with members of your book club! 🤫
Set a theme for the books or rotate who picks for each member. Playing a variation on a white elephant game can also be fun, where books are blindly rotated among the book club members. 😌
Plan an adaptation watch party! Choose a book or series to read with your book club members and then meet to watch the adaptation of that book or series. Watching a movie or starting a TV series with your book club can motivate you to read the book in time for the book club meeting and make you even more excited to meet and discuss the book and its adaptation with your book club.
9. Make A Custom Reading Experience
We’ve all admired the beautiful Pinterest boards of creative bookmarks based on popular book series or seen the cocktail recipes inspired by book characters. So why not make your very own custom reading items and experiences based on your current book?
Here are a few fun ideas to get you started. The possibilities are endless! 🤩
10. Reach Your Goals With The Bookly Reading Tracker App
The Bookly App lets you easily track your reading progress and reach your goals! 😌📖
It makes it so simple to track your reading progress in real time and keeps you motivated to improve your reading habits and avoid tricky reading slumps! The app unlocks badges and achievements, encouraging you to read and exceed your book goals.
Download Bookly for iOS 👉 https://bookly.app.link/nAH81rtpg9
Download Bookly for Android 👉 https://bookly.app.link/4TMM20xpg9
Combine some of the activities I mentioned with your Bookly Book Tracker and organize your bookshelves, create detailed reports, and save essential details from books you’ve read as you work through reading challenges and readathons!
This article was written by our Bookly Pro Reader, Adilyn! 💙
Still not Ready to Break Off your Reading Slump?
Try out some of these ways to get into your reading habit and forget about your reading slump with these 7 books. You can do it! 💪
