The reading slump has been broken
The books that broke it plus 90s TV, Woodstock, and an emergency bagel
Reading slumps are a drag, and I’ve been in a major one for fiction all year. Before the two books I’ll talk about today, I’d read 31 books in 2024. Six (SIX!) were fiction. That’s a ludicrously low number for me. But I’ve tried many novels this year and have ended up with a pile of DNFs. I couldn’t figure out what the issue was.
I’m honestly still not sure what the issue is/was. However, I’m happy to report that I went on vacation to Pennsylvania and upstate New York last week and finished a chunky book in two days. And then today, I finished one of the books I mentioned in my last post on reading slower-building stories. So things are looking up!
The slump-busting books
First up is The God of the Woods by Liz Moore. This book saved me from not one but two very frustrating situations on vacation. The first was a 5-hour flight delay + 3-hour flight, which made for a long, tedious day. The second was “unprecedented” traffic to the NASCAR race in the Poconos after a freak rainstorm caused issues. It took us 3 hours to go 5 miles and we were late for the race. In both situations, I’d packed a book because ONE SHOULD ALWAYS PACK A BOOK TO BREAK OUT IN CASE OF EMERGENCY.
This book was so riveting that I *almost* didn’t mind all of the delays. In fact, once we actually got to the race, I ended up continuing to read instead of watching the race, lol.
This story is a mystery and family drama wrapped up together and is delivered in a beautifully written way. I don’t always need a book to have sentence-level excellence (if the story and characters are compelling enough) but this one delivers on both. You want to keep turning the pages but also you sometimes want to underline a particular sentence or description.
Also, as a writer who’s written stories with dual timelines, I absolutely loved how the author handled the different time jumps in this book. The chapters are labeled in a way that made it so much easier for me to keep track of multiple character points of view and multiple timelines.
So what is it about? I’ll post the back cover blurb below but be warned. This novel is compelling but don’t mistake it for a high-velocity suspense novel. There are two mysteries you want to figure out, but this is much more about the characters and their relationships than anything else. If you liked Rebecca Makkai’s I Have Some Questions for You (which was one of my favorite books of 2023), you’ll probably like this.
About the book:
When a teenager vanishes from her Adirondack summer camp, two worlds collide
Early morning, August 1975: a camp counselor discovers an empty bunk. Its occupant, Barbara Van Laar, has gone missing. Barbara isn’t just any thirteen-year-old: she’s the daughter of the family that owns the summer camp and employs most of the region’s residents. And this isn’t the first time a Van Laar child has disappeared. Barbara’s older brother similarly vanished fourteen years ago, never to be found.
As a panicked search begins, a thrilling drama unfolds. Chasing down the layered secrets of the Van Laar family and the blue-collar community working in its shadow, Moore’s multi-threaded story invites readers into a rich and gripping dynasty of secrets and second chances. It is Liz Moore’s most ambitious and wide-reaching novel yet.
Next up is a classic that I somehow never read, and I’m so glad I’ve remedied that oversight now! Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery was an absolute joy and delight. And if you want to talk about sentence-level beauty, you can’t go wrong here. There are so many quotes worth underlining, I don’t even know where to start. The setting descriptions are magical and Anne is a ray of sunshine. This is the perfect escapist read for a tough day/week/month.
Also, as this was part of my experiment to read older, slower books, I loved how each chapter was almost like its own short story. That made it easy to pick up, read a chapter (or listen to a chapter—I bounced back and forth between this hardcover edition above and the audio with Rachel McAdams narrating) and then put it down to do other things. I could dip in and out without losing the thread.
If you’re looking for something to make you smile and laugh (and okay, get misty-eyed at times), you can’t go wrong with this one. I’ve already purchased the rest of the series and Emily of New Moon so that I have a trove of cozy, feel-good books whenever I need a pick-me-up.
So I’m thankful to both of these five-star books for getting me out of my slump!
What I’m currently reading
I’m currently reading What Happened to Nina? by Dervla McTiernan, and I’m halfway through, so I’m hoping this one will be a success as well. The story has been a page-turner so far, and that’s interesting considering you as the reader know what happened to Nina pretty early on. The author clearly based the set-up on the Gabby Petito case, and that gives it another layer because that story is still fresh in many of our minds. Just ignore the cover. It doesn’t seem to fit anything from the story at all.
What I’m Watching
I’m in comfort mode so I’m doing a rewatch of Felicity. I was in college during the years this is set, and I’m here for all the late 90s/early 00s nostalgia vibes. (Streaming on Hulu) I love that this was J.J. Abrams first TV project before he went on to do Alias and Lost and the Star Wars movies. Also, if you want to enhance a rewatch, there’s a great podcast called Dear Felicity that is hosted by two cast members and features a lot of the other cast and crew. They cover episodes and give inside info on them. So fun!
And, of course, it’s summer which means a new Big Brother season, a long-standing summer tradition at our house. We’ve watched the first few episodes, and though I’m annoyed that this year’s theme is A.I. (ugh), I’m going to persevere. I’m always fascinated by the relationship dynamics of this show. It’s also more successful at creating long-lasting romantic relationships than The Bachelor, so that’s fun to see too.
Vacation Photos (after all the delays, we actually had some nerdy fun!)
Vacation was great (after the first two days of Griswold-level catastrophes) but I’m glad to be home. I hope your summer is going well. I’d love to hear what you’re reading and watching or where you went (or are going) on vacation. Let me know!
*Book links are affiliate links (Amazon, Libro.fm, and/or Bookshop.org), which means I earn a small commission if you buy through my links. Also, I receive advanced listening copies of some audiobooks through Libro.fm’s Influencer program. However, all reviews and opinions are my own.
I’m so glad you’ve discovered the joy of Anne. One of my all-time favorite books!
Anne and almost any LMM books are slump breakers for me. Will check out the Moore book.
You might enjoy Carly Fortune’s romance This Summer Will be Different. It’s a love story to Prince Edward Island with lots of Anne references.
The Blue Castle is another LMM fave of mine that I discovered later in life-as it was a character’s fave book in a novel I was reading and I couldn’t believe there was a Montgomery book I’d never heard of.
Going to see if I can find Felicity. Thanks!