4 Tips for Ending a Book Hangover

Happy Friday fellow readers! I hope you all had amazing weeks!

For me, my week was pretty slow in terms of reading. In case you couldn’t tell by the title of this post, I’ve hit a dreaded book hangover. For anyone who’s unaware, a book hangover is similar to a reading slump; it’s a time when you really don’t feel like reading, but it’s caused by reading an AMAZING book and feeling like nothing could measure up (hence the hangover part).

In my case, I’ve read FOUR amazing books all in a row (Six of Crows duology, The Bear and the Nightingale, and I’m about 10 pages from finishing The Language of Thorns (I just don’t want it to end!!)), and now, I’m dealing with the consequences.

So, this post is as much for me as it is for everyone else, because, holy cannoli, I need some help getting out of this hangover! Without any further ado, my tips for ending a book hangover!

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#4- Read a book you have no intention of reviewing

This one is kind of specific to bloggers/reviewers, but sometimes it’s helpful to read a book that you won’t review afterward. It gives you the freedom to be disappointed with a book, without feeling like you’re causing unfair harm to the author by writing a negative review.

#3- Read a book you have no expectations for whatsoever

It’s hard to be disappointed with something if you had no expectations going in. Even if it doesn’t measure up to those previous amazing books, it’ll help pull you out of your slump, and acts as a buffer so that the next book you’ve been excited to read is compared to the mediocre one, instead of the amazing one.

#2- Take a short hiatus where you do something new

I’ve done this for a previous book hangover. I’ll take a couple days off where I don’t read, but instead, I might go workout with my brother, or go hiking with a friend, or even just ride my bike around the neighborhood. For me, being super active for a couple days tires me out, and makes me want to do ANYTHING that involves me not leaving the couch. By then, I’m usually over my hangover, because I’m just so relieved to be able to do nothing but sit and read.

#1- Read something from a completely different genre

This is my current strategy. I’ve finished all these amazing fantasy novels, so to try to pull me out of this slump, I’ve lined up a few poetry collections. They’re shorter and easy to read, but separate me from the fantasy genre enough for me to get over my hangover. But, this sometimes turns into a horrifying spiral of only trading one book hangover for another, until eventually there is no where left to run and no genre is safe to read…!

That’s never actually happened to me. Usually a couple books from a different genre and I can had right back to reading whatever I want.

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Thanks for reading!

Have you ever had a book hangover? Do you have any tips for getting out of one? Are there any books you would recommend me to get out of mine? Let me know in the comments below!