Woman Reading in a Landscape
Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot
I'm in a reading rut.
There's no doubt about it, a reading rut sucks. You know those times when no book, no matter how brilliant it is, can hold your attention for more than thirty seconds? When you pick up one book after another (after another) hoping that something, anything will suck you into its fictional world? When you gaze upon your bookshelves with a longing envy, because even though books are patiently waiting to be plucked from the dusty confines of the top shelf, you simply can't do much about it? When not even that cheesy escapist novel with a fifth-grade reading level can compel you to bury yourself in the intoxicating smell of the printed page? These are the horrible symptoms of a reading rut, and all apply to my current feelings for anything literary.
I've experienced the dreaded reading rut enough times in my life to know that it's best if I just wait out the storm. But, oh, how I wish I were reading -- not only for the joy that literature inevitably brings to my life, but also so that I could share wonderful discoveries with you. Unfortunately, it's difficult to blog when you struggle to make it through a single chapter of the simplest text!
Hopefully I will soon return to a reading frenzy, racing through pages because I simply can't. get enough. Then I will tell you how this author brought me to tears with the beauty of her words and how that book compelled me to stay up all night until I reached its blissful conclusion.
In the meantime I have been keeping myself occupied with the following:
Still trying to find a career. Oh, the joy!
Exercising. Perhaps this is due to the impending arrival of summer, but suddenly I've felt the need to get in shape. The evening weather is perfectly suited to speed walks with chubby dogs.
Gardening. Wholly unaccustomed to yard work of any kind, this year I've suddenly become my mother's assistant outside. Armed with sunscreen and shades, I've pulled weeds, planned out the placement of new shubbery, and planted flowers. Oh, I also managed to kill off whole sections of grass in the attempt to root out dandelions. Whoops.
Do you have any sure-fire methods of emerging from a reading rut? If so, please share your tips!
