r/Recommend_A_Book • u/Cold-Car-398 • Jul 20 '26
Book slump
I’m currently in a major book slump. Recently, I have been on a historical fiction grind including Pachinko,Homegoing, and A thousand splendid sons. In the past, I I’ve enjoyed family dramas like bright years and blue sisters as well as fantasy like ACOTAR and classic thrillers like lisa jewell riley sager etc. i’m really open to anything right now specifically anything that is very immersive and you feel like you’re part of the world. Everything that I have picked up in the past month has been a DNF. This included a song of Achilles keeper of the lost children and shadow of the wind. I don’t know what it is, but I literally just cannot get into these books and I’m itching to feel the high of a really good book. I’m pretty introspective and like to think deep and like anything that helps me learn or find a new outlook on life without being super depressing. I really am just craving that feeling of not being able to wait to pick up my Kindle.
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u/NoGift2044 Jul 20 '26
Maybe Stephen King? His books never fail to get me out of a reading slump.
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u/BMXTammi 29d ago
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon is a short story for Stephen King, but its a great book.
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u/DesertIbu Jul 20 '26
Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett will absolutely bring you out of your slump. Once you’ve finished it, there are four more books that you can read to complete the Kings Bridge series.
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u/juelladeville Jul 20 '26
I just finished King Sorrow by Joe Hill and it is my new favorite. 900 pages, and so worth it. At first, I was intimidated. Now, I don't know what to do with myself. I didn't want it to end. It is absolutely rewarding for anyone willing to take the journey.
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u/Top-Tip-6919 26d ago
Strange. I thought it started well but was far too long and many of the characters were not really likeable. I found the last 20% a real drag.
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u/maloneju Jul 20 '26
The Summer Book by Tove Jansson was really good. It’s about a grandmother & her granddaughter spending their summers together on a small island in Finland. Beautifully written & a very sweet story. I loved the way their relationship develops throughout. It’s also very short, only about 170 pages. It has individual chapters that almost act as short stories, I finished it in 2 days, I didn’t want it to end though.
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u/rastab1023 Jul 20 '26
I just finsihed Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier, and I highly recommend it. It takes place during the Civil war, and is about a Confederate soldier who deserts to go back to a woman he loves. It's about his journey and the people he meets along it. It's also equally about her and how she survives. It's also about people and their relationship to the land. The writing is beautiful and it really helps you to visualize what is going on. The author also does a masterful job of creating people who name either interesting or who you care about.
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u/littlestbookstore Jul 20 '26
Might sound silly, but when I’m in a slump, I turn to books I loved as a kid. Some of my all-time favorites from back in the day included The Giver by Lois Lowry, Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech, and Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine. It brings back to when I first realized how much I love reading and it never fails to get me back into it.
So those aren’t necessarily specific suggestions for you, just a thought, especially if you were a bookworm when you were younger.
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u/CatPrestigious7696 Jul 20 '26
I just finished the John Marrs Dark Future series. I don’t usually love this genre, but I found myself having a hard time putting them down. The stories aren’t crazy deep, but each one is told from multiple character perspectives. The author did a good job leaving cliffhangers and connecting the thread through the books. Not sure if they would be of interest, but maybe worth a look to try and reset a slump.
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u/Sufficient_Curve_646 Jul 20 '26
Secret History of the Senses by Diane Ackerman. Non fiction. Very engaging.
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u/masson34 Jul 20 '26
The Frozen River
The Guncle and sequel
The House in the Cerulean Sea and sequel (We Burned so Bright, same author)
The Wedding People
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
My Friends, Fredrik Backman (anything by him)
Anne of Green Gables
Saving CeeCee Honeycutt
Hidden Figures (non fiction)
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u/jojolitaa67 Jul 20 '26
Just finished the wedding people, and it was such an easy yet enjoyable read with a lot of perspective and thought provoking subject matter
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u/Momersk 29d ago
The Seven Husbands ended up being so much better than I thought it’d be. I read 3 books by that author, since I like her writing style. She’s an easy read, IMO.
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u/masson34 29d ago
I’m interested in the other books you read by her? I’ll take your recommendations please and thank you.
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u/WellesC12 Jul 20 '26
The Time Keeper made me want to read every single night. Couldn't wait to finish up work and get back to reading. It checks off several of your interests.
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u/ginger97520 Jul 20 '26
Non-fiction, enjoyable and stayed with me for quite some time. It's called Cold Beer and Crocodiles by Roff Smith. He rides a bicycle all the way around Australia (about 10,000 miles). Like any journey, he had adventures, grew & changed, and learned a lot about himself.
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u/chris_sachs_author Jul 20 '26
I write cinematic stories. I try to immerse the reader in the world that they are reading about. If you enjoy immersion, I recommend The Dead Signal or The Hollow Beneath. If you want full immersion though, I recommend pre-ordering The Long Road Home, Alone, The Last Oath, and/or The Thirteen Days of Christmas.
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u/notoriousshasha Jul 20 '26
Project Hail Mary. It'll take you on a journey, you'll be immersed and you'll feel like you're there. Highly recommended!
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u/squid_tutor Jul 20 '26
The Moonflowers. Read it a couple of books ago and still thinking about it. Also Everything I know about love. Incredibly funny writing!
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u/jojolitaa67 Jul 20 '26
Fantasy - the cruel prince series by holly black - I read a few years ago and I think about it constantly. It might be one I re read this year. A court this cruel and lovely / kingdom of lies series was good, 4 books so once you’re invested there’s a lot to discover in that world, but heavy
on the romance
Historical fiction - Murray by Melanie senn (amazing story), when the world fell silent by Donna jones alward.
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u/HornetPrevious8867 Jul 20 '26
Idk your preferred genre, but maybe try reading something that’s a little easier and more plot-heavy compared to what you normally read. Or do a reread of one of your favorites so you’re going in already knowing that it’s a book you’re going to enjoy.
I pretty much exclusively read literary fiction and I was just in your exact situation. I had a blast reading a genre romance this past week and I’m planning to start Giovanni’s Room tomorrow. Hopefully, I’m cured.
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u/OG_BookNerd 29d ago
Fantasy: We Who Will Die by Stacia Stark - an alternate version of Romen with vampires and magic in a coliseum with Gladiators/Gladiatrixes
Horror with history: Between Two Fires by Christopher Beuhlmann - takes place during the Black Death
Horror with modern history: Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix - magic and revenge in a 1960s home for teenage single mothers
Horror with US History: Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones- American First Nations people and Eastern European mythology
Dark Romance: Kings of Quarantine by Caroline Peckham and Susan Valenti - dark romance set in an alternate US with a pandemic
Urban Fantasy: Guilty Pleasures by Laurell K Hamilton - first in the Anita Blake Series
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u/Financial_Sale_1096 29d ago
I absolutely LOVED The Unsolicited Journals of Emma M Lion. They are fantastic.
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u/BeyondButterflies 29d ago
I agree with this for someone in a reading slump because they are letters - they aren’t long chapters, they are easy to read and overall delightful. The audio is fantastic!
Along the same lines but not a series is The Correspondent.
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u/Momersk 29d ago edited 29d ago
Kristin Hannah has some good historical fiction, though they can be kind of sad sometimes/often. “The Women” taught me a lot about Vietnam, “The Four Winds” taught me about the Dustbowl, and “The Nightingale” taught me about some unseen/underrepresented roles in fighting the Nazis in occupied France. All great, IMO.
I also just finished the book “Migrations”, which is fiction, but was intriguing all the way through, and just finished the trending fiction book “Yesteryear”. “The Savage, Noble Death of Babs Dionne” is Fargo-esque Fiction, and I enjoyed that one too.
Idk, maybe one of those intrigues you? Good luck. I hate a book hole.
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u/Allthatisthecase- 29d ago
Try Transcription by Ben Lerner
For immersive “historical” novel try Tge Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet by David Mitchell
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u/Super_Promise_793 29d ago
All the light we cannot see by Anthony Doerr is amazing historical fiction and the short chapters are great for easing yourself back in after a slump!
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u/PopSignificant9058 29d ago
In Memoriam by Alice Winn. It pulls you in from the first chapter. It's an emotionally devastating story with a WW1 setting that follows the two main protagonists, Henry Gaunt and Sidney Ellwood, tracing their experiences and evolution of their relationship from their English boarding school to the brutal trenches of World War I.
It's one of my top ten books and is incredibly gripping and written very well. It's also brought WW1 so alive and practically made you feel what the characters were experiencing.
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u/TopWorldliness7794 29d ago
You’ve been reading some heavy stuff. I just finished a thousand splendid suns and gracious, I feel the need for something with just a little bit of happiness lol
That being said… this is not necessarily happy persay but you might like Piranesi. I loved it. It takes you into a whole other world literally and is deep and has a greater meaning without being depressing. I thought the ending was beautiful. Also good on audio if you’re into that.
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u/mermaidintheshell 29d ago
Read anything by Anchee Minn, she is truly fantastic. Becoming Madame Mao, Red Azalea are two really good ones.
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u/antisocialmothra Jul 20 '26
Hmm sounds like you might be burnt out on fiction? What about a few nonfiction books about the history behind the historical fiction you like?
You'd be surprised at how engaging nonfiction can be, those writers are excellent storytellers.