I should not worry so much, because reading slumps come and go. But every time one comes, I worry that it won't ever go. What if I've permanently lost my ability to concentrate? This is certainly possible, in this age of ever-distracting social media.
When I wrote about falling into a reading slump a few weeks ago, I included 10 tips on how to haul yourself out of that hole. But readers, as always, had a lot of other suggestions.
Many people suggested specific authors and titles to drag me away from the abyss. Light crime by Mary Higgins Clark and Stuart Woods, one person suggested on Twitter. Anne Tyler's "Vinegar Girl," said another. (At the start of the pandemic I re-read almost every Anne Tyler novel there is. "Vinegar Girl" is her modernized take on Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew" and is indeed worth re-reading.)
Someone suggested the novels of Laurie Colwin, which are great reads and have been recently re-released by Harper Perennial and Vintage. Colwin wrote in the 1980s, and I read her novels back then; she died unexpectedly in 1992 and was greatly, greatly mourned.
Several people suggested re-reading something by a beloved writer. One person had a wonderful list: Charles Baxter, Toni Morrison, Ethan Canin, Russell Banks and Ernest J. Gaines, and I agree that those authors are hard to resist.
Someone else recommended the mysteries of Agatha Christie, which reminded me that, years ago, when a close family member was dying, I did exactly that; I did not have the capacity to read anything difficult, and Christie's books were the perfect balm. I don't have them anymore. Maybe it's time to buy them again?
There were other suggestions.
"Take the book outside. There are so many distractions and things 'to do' in the house, especially when working from home," suggested Carmen Rossi, who just moved to Minneapolis from Puerto Rico and likely will not be following that advice come January. (But it is excellent advice for now.)
