Reading Too Much?! | Discussion

I have had a bumper few months of reading and it’s been absolutely brilliant. So many books have been digested into my brain and I have revelled in the highs and lows of a variety of stories and tales. My latest wrap-up sums up just how much I’ve been able to get through. 

I’d like to say this reduced my TBR pile…but I would be lying. More on that in another post. 

And this is fantastic. Great to be reading so much.

BUT

I have seen a few other people on various platforms talking about this as being a bit of an issue – Reading too much has resulted in a reading slump. 

After ploughing my way through so many books, I’m now struggling to find the motivation to pick up something and just read. There are a few things going on in life at the moment (some massive, crazy, life-changing things!), so that probably is contributing as well, but it does seem to be the case that reading so much in one chunk of time actually affects how much you feel you can read in the future.

Why is this?

I think there could be a few reasons. First that comes to my mind, is that reading does actually use up energy. A lot of brainpower goes into staring at typed letters that form sentences until they make sense and then processing the information it gives you. So, while reading is a relaxing activity when a lot is going on, if all you’re doing in your downtime from the stresses of the day is continuing to concentrate for hours on end, it’s actually counterproductive.

Second is something I am very guilty of: after reading several INCREDIBLE books, all I want is to read INCREDIBLE books. So anything that feels even slightly less than the best thing I have read recently feels like something of a disappointment after a few pages. Which is a bit daft, really. Not every book needs to be a life-changing experience. We can just enjoy something even if it’s not perhaps the best written or the most poignant.

And third, just a general thing, it’s always important to get involved in different kinds of media. The mind does need stimulation, and it needs a variety of stimulation. Getting into one kind of things is great, and when we love something we just want to have it all the time. But soon the brain gets a bit tired and maybe a bit stagnant and it just can’t take any more of that one thing.

So, I’m taking a bit of a break. I have a few books I’ve listed on my Goodreads that I’ve started and I’ll wander my way through them, but I’m not going to go crazy about it. It’s time to take my time and do some other things to recharge the reading batteries. More gaming, more writing (so much more writing!) and all the fun stuff life is currently throwing at me! And hopefully I’ll be back to reading more later in the year.

Hopefully.

I have a lot of books to read…

~

Am I crazy? Is there such a thing as reading too much? Let me know down below!

xx

And a quick shout out to FictionTeaDesigns for the epic bookmark in the featured image of this post!!