Sigh.

It happens to every reader, and I never thought I was immune, but it’s been years since I had to say that I’m in a reading slump, but… ugh, I think I’m in one right now.  It’s a strange kind of slump, because I’m reading – and really enjoying – Nick Hornby’s Ten Years in the Tub: A Decade of Soaking in Great Books.  It’s a collection of columns that Hornby wrote about the books he was buying and reading over ten years, and it’s fan-freaking-tastic.  He can make me tear up in one sentence (the way the guy writes about his autistic son… so much love) and crack up in the next (the Polysyllabic Spree, the fifty-five or eighty-seven or sixteen rapturously intelligent and intelligently rapturous young men and women who run The Believer magazine… oh, dear, I want to meet them).  Every night, I’m reading one or two columns and loving them.

But that’s all I can manage.

I’m just… tired.  I started The Golem and the Jinni, which I’ve been wanting to read for ages now, and can’t seem to make myself pick it up.  And it’s great.  It’s fun, well-written, and crazy creative.  But I’m not really feeling any book at the moment, except a book like Ten Years in the Tub, which I can read in small snatches that don’t tax my attention for more than a few minutes.  I think that Library Summer may have just been too much – at least, when heaped on top of a crush of work deadlines, moving house, sickness (Peanut and I both have bad colds – thanks, preschool germs!) and all the other responsibilities for day-to-day life.  Now I’m down to only three books checked out and that feels good, but I’m having a hard time motivating myself to pick them up.

Plus, there are too many other things to do.  The house is a disaster – a sea of boxes.  What would have taken me a week, maybe, to unpack before baby is stretching on into infinity now that I have a rambunctious toddler.  I can’t unpack when Peanut is awake, because if I turn my back on her for one second, she’s rummaging through the cleaning supplies under the kitchen sink.  (I have yet to find childproofing materials that fit my new cabinet doors.)  Or playing her favorite game, “Mommy go dis way!”, in which I have to follow her as she makes loops around the house (and she has a mini tantrum if I’m too slow about it).  I can’t unpack while she’s asleep, because the noise of boxes opening and newsprint crinkling wakes her instantly.  So I’m just trying to get a box here, a box there, done while she is occupied with a book of her own – but with all these still-packed boxes about, it’s hard to justify sitting down to read.  Even a magazine is a tall order these days; it took me three sittings to get through Everyday with Rachael Ray.

I hate being in a reading slump.  I want nothing more than to stretch out on the couch – or in my backyard, even better, enjoying the last warm days before autumn chill really sets in – with a cup of tea and a fantastic, gripping book, and read the afternoon away.  But most of the comforting books I’m craving are still packed in boxes who-knows-where and I just can’t make myself open these library books for more than a few minutes at a time.  I’m burnt out on library books.  I’d rather be playing with Peanut or organizing my kitchen (or reorganizing it after the little hurricane has shuffled all of my spices again) or cooking up freezer meals to have on hand for these busy weeks.  There’s too much to do, too much I neglected when I was deep in Library Summer, and my deep list of tasks is stealing my focus away from my reading material.

I know… excuses, excuses.  The fact is, I just haven’t made time to sit down and read in the last few weeks.  That’s my problem.  But I do think that slumps happen to everyone eventually, and I was due.  So I’m going to weather this one by baking and unpacking and enjoying the fall weather with hubby and Peanut, and the books will be there when I’m ready for them (maybe on shelves, if the unpacking starts to pick up a little).  In the meantime, any recommendations for a great book to get me out of this slump?

Have you ever been in a reading slump?  How’d you get out of it?

Back when Peanut was just a little baking nut, I shared my hopes for being a Reading Mom.  I confessed that I was worried about having enough time for my favorite hobby, and shared some of the reasons why I think it’s important that I keep reading no matter how busy life as a mom gets.  And one of those reasons was “to set an example.”  I explained:

This might be even more important. I want my baby to grow up surrounded by books, and to live in a world where stories and reading are a part of life. That’s the childhood that my own mom gave me, and that’s what I want to give my little girl. Along those lines, it’s going to be important for me both to read WITH the kiddo every day (stay tuned for our favorite bedtime stories to be featured on the blog), and for the kid to see ME reading to myself – to see that I make reading a priority in my own life. Whether that’s sitting with a book in my lap while I keep an eye on my offspring on the playground a few years from now, or picking out my own book when we motor by the library for story hour, I want the kid to understand that books can enrich her life – and what better way to get that message across than to embody it?

Yes, one of the most important reasons I wanted to make reading a priority even during long days of raising a baby was that I wanted Peanut to grow up with books.  I wanted books to be part of her “normal” – and that included both being read to and reading herself, and seeing me read too.  My hope was that she would grow to love books and become an avid reader herself.

Two years in… mission accomplished?

Well, not quite yet.  Peanut can’t read yet (although sometimes I have my suspicions that she actually can and is just keeping it to herself) but so far, so good.  The kid definitely loves books.  No… she adores them.  And while I’m not quite ready to declare “success!” or claim that Peanut is a lifelong reader – she is, after all, only two – I think we’re off to an excellent start.  Peanut will happily sit quietly with a book.  She knows her favorites by heart and will entertain herself by “reading” out loud.  (Her teachers tell me she does this at school, too.)  She also loves being read to, of course, and will sit for hours snuggling in a lap listening to stories, if she can convince anyone to go on that long.  How am I making this happen?

• By being very, very lucky.  Of course I’m doing everything I can to foster a love of books and reading in Peanut.  Of course I am.  But I think that she has a certain innate love of books and reading (her genes, perhaps?) and a large part of any “success” we’ve had in getting her to enjoy books has been pure luck.  It’s the old “nature v. nurture” debate.  I’m doing the best I can to nurture her love of reading, but a big part of it is just her nature.  And I just try to stay out of her way!
• By patiently reading as much as she wants (within reason).  Peanut goes on jags like any toddler.  In her case, she goes on book jags where we have to read the same book umpteen times in a row.  Last week, it was Olivia Goes to Venice (which is hilarious, by the way).  This week, it’s Fancy Nancy: Halloween or Bust!  If Peanut is into a story and requesting that it be read over and over, I do my best to oblige, even if that means reading the same thirty pages eleven times straight.  I don’t sigh, act put-upon, read more quickly or neglect to do the voices after the tenth read-through.  I don’t want Peanut to ever get the impression that reading to her is a chore for me.  It’s not – it’s pure joy.  (Even if sometimes I wouldn’t mind diversifying… we have a lot of good books.)  Of course, I did say this is within reason.  If it’s a ploy to avoid bedtime… well, Peanut, I wasn’t born yesterday.
• By respecting her desire to read to herself.  Sometimes Peanut likes to sit quietly with a book and get in some alone time.  I get that, because I do the same thing.  (Nana told me that when she was watching Peanut, Peanut would occasionally take a book into her play yard and sit there for a few minutes to get away – haha!)  If Peanut seems to want to read to herself, I don’t push in (although I will occasionally offer to read the book she’s perusing).  I want her to enjoy reading independently and let her direct herself.  (Now that she usually can do that without ripping pages, that is.)
• By reading in front of her.  In my “Reading Mom” post I said I wanted Peanut to see me making books and reading a priority in my life too.  Now that she is old enough to play independently, I try to do that when I can.  It’s harder than I expected it to be, though; she’s so cute that I just want to sit and watch her play, not look down at my book!  But I have been trying, more and more, to sit with a book in the playroom while Peanut plays with her farm or tackles her stuffed animals.  (Or sits with a book of her own.)  I don’t know if she’s catching on yet to me making reading a priority, but I’m laying the groundwork.
• By cycling in seasonal books.  We read fall books in the fall, Christmas books at Christmas, winter books in the winter… Mixing in seasonal books keeps Peanut’s shelves fresh and interesting, and also shows her that books can be something that contributes to the fun of a season or holiday.  Reading special books at special times has become part of our family tradition – as I knew it would – and I hope she looks forward to Christmas books all year the way I did when I was a kid.

We have a long way to go but I am already imagining Peanut as a ten-year-old, curled up with Anne of Green Gables (maybe for the first time) or telling me which of the Little Women she is.  I think that despite all of my plans for fostering a love of reading in Peanut – and as much as I work on that goal every day – a major part of her current bookish propensities is simply that that’s who she is.  I am still, of course, trying to encourage her love of books, but part of me wonders if she’d be a bookish baby no matter what I did or didn’t do.  What I didn’t take into account when I was sharing my goals for reading as a mom (and reading to my baby) was her personality.  Now, two years in, I’m balancing my continuing efforts to encourage her to read with thanking my lucky stars that she seems to be a born reader – with a very lucky mom.

Are you a born reader, or did someone encourage you… or both?

It’s that time again – Quarterly box time!  Wheeeeeeee!  The team over at Book Riot worked hard on this one, that much is clear.  Now that #BKR04 has been officially unveiled, I can show you what I got.

The first view of the box was immediately promising.  I set aside the cute little “Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya” button (!!!) and the team’s summary of the contents of the box – I’d read it later, but I wanted to be surprised – and the first treat I exposed was an 8×10 Obvious State print (with a quote from Jorge Luis Borges) and a bonus postcard-sized second print.  I love Obvious State – I already own an 11×14 print with a quote from my favorite poet, e.e. cummings – so right away I was psyched.

Under the prints I found a “Read Harder” water bottle, a cool “READ READ READ” bumper sticker (not sure where I’ll put that yet, but I’m sure I’ll find a use for it) and two books, both of which I had been wanting to read.

The book offerings this quarter were The Salinger Contract, by Adam Langer (novel) and What We See When We Read, by Peter Mendelsund (non-fiction).  I’m particularly psyched for What We See When We Read.  I flipped through it briefly and it catapulted to the top of my to-read list, just as soon as I dispatch with the remaining books in my current library stack.  There was also a voucher for a free Michael Chabon ebook – winning.

As you might remember, #BKR03 – my first Quarterly box – was a bit of a mixed bag (errrr – box) for me.  I liked some of the selections, but others didn’t do much for me and one item was something I already owned.  This time, I’m glad to report, I loved everything in the box.  I can’t wait to read the books and find the perfect spots to hang the Obvious State prints, and I know the water bottle is going to get plenty of use.  Cheers to a Quarterly box winner!

Do you subscribe to the Book Riot Quarterly boxes?  What did you think of #BKR04?