Lost my Reading Mojo

September 26, 2023 12:02 PM

I used to read prodigiously, mostly novels. I still read a lot, but now mostly short stuff on the web, like Metafilter and news. Please recommend engaging books.

Not necessarily YA, which can be too simple and young, but broader YA is acceptable, probably.

posted by Mom to Society & Culture (39 answers total)

Best answer: Murderbot Diaries! It's a perennial favorite here, because it's awesome. As a bonus, the first few books are novella length, so easy to try on. I was put off by the series title, but don't make my mistake: it has a ton of heart and is as chock full of the human condition as it is page-turning action adventure. (Edit: jinx!)
posted by SaltySalticid at 12:04 PM on September 26, 2023 [15 favorites]

Best answer: Murderbot Diaries
posted by Windopaene at 12:05 PM on September 26, 2023 [7 favorites]

Previously: Easy reads with literary flourishes
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 12:13 PM on September 26, 2023 [3 favorites]

You didn't give us much to go on, so I'll just recommend the book I found most worth reading in recent years: The Constant Rabbit (by Jasper Fforde).

It's kind of the antithesis of the news, in that actual events tend to numb my empathy, while this story helped me reflect on compassion and activism.
posted by demi-octopus at 12:17 PM on September 26, 2023 [4 favorites]

Ooh, I like these questions! Without knowing what sorts of novels you like, here are a few suggestions:

- Binti by Nnedi Okorafor (three novellas) (she has a YA trilogy as well, starting with Akata Witch)
- Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston (queer romance)
- The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune (sweet, unexpected, found family)
- Delilah Green Doesn't Care by Ashley Herring Blake (queer romance)
- The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman (cozy mystery set in/around a retirement village)
- Dava Shastri's Last Day by Kirthana Ramisetti (family secrets and legacies)
- The Maid by Nita Prose (mystery with unexpected protagonist)
posted by SeedStitch at 12:24 PM on September 26, 2023 [4 favorites]

Response by poster: I like literary fiction that isn't pretentious. Recently enjoyed Chemistry, Pachinko, Where'd You Go, Bernadette, Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine.

Not totally averse to chick lit/ romance if it doesn't completely insult my intelligence.
posted by Mom at 12:24 PM on September 26, 2023

When I get in a reading rut I go back to books I loved as a child. Specifically not YA. But my beloved middle grades books of my youth, the things that got me excited about reading in the first place.

Because the stories are extremely readable, light, have happy endings, and finish fast, knocking back a few of them quickly gets me back on the reading hype train and I'm in a better spot to pick up something more chewy and new to me.

Another thing I did years ago to get me out of a reading rut was to start a "project" to read books that got turned into movies, exclusively. I'd read the book then watch the movie, or pick a book for a movie I already liked. Something about the comfort of a plot that I was already familiar with managed to hold my attention in the way that picking up other books just wasn't doing for me at the time.

And if you are looking for a specific rec for something to read that fits neither of those categories, I loved Convenience Store Woman.
posted by phunniemee at 12:27 PM on September 26, 2023 [6 favorites]

Do you have any specific genres you like or don't like? I recently greatly reduced my social media consumption and that has improved my reading ability, it seems. Also, I started with easy reads. I like cozy mysteries and historical fiction and here are some of my recent favorites: Pachinko, Beneath a Scarlet Sky, All the Light We Cannot See. For mysteries, I enjoyed Tana French's series, and the Maisie Dobbs series by Winspear, Jacqueline.
posted by j810c at 12:33 PM on September 26, 2023 [2 favorites]

I realized my rut was caused by booktok. I kept getting those books out of the library cause everyone loved them. And then I realized that it didn't work for me, so I went back to my old method. Going to the library and browsing.

My recommendation- Best Laid Plans by Terry Fallis. Light, a bit of humour. Easy to read.
posted by Ftsqg at 12:44 PM on September 26, 2023 [3 favorites]

The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia A. McKillip - recently read on airplane, suggested in an Ask (or three). Not too long, fantastical beasts and magic, satisfying read. Highly recommend.
posted by Glinn at 12:52 PM on September 26, 2023 [4 favorites]

Mom, is that you? You know you're in a book club -- ask them what's for next month's meeting!

(But seriously, do you have a friend who you could agree to discuss something with? It'd be like having a workout partner. Maybe start with a long-form article online and work your way up.)

I liked the Kilju Preservation Society by Charlier Stross from last year, but it might not be your cup of tea.
posted by wenestvedt at 1:27 PM on September 26, 2023 [2 favorites]

Best answer: I totally recommend A Psalm for the Wild-Built.
posted by mcduff at 1:32 PM on September 26, 2023 [2 favorites]

I liked the Kilju Preservation Society by Charlier Stross

John Scalzi's Kaiju Preservation Society was so much fun! I'm on my library's wait list for his new one, Starter Villain, which looks entertaining too!
posted by MonkeyToes at 1:53 PM on September 26, 2023 [3 favorites]

I was in a similar slump, but found Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo is bringing me back.
posted by Mr. Hazlenut at 2:08 PM on September 26, 2023

(OMG, I am an idiot: kilju is Finnish moonshine -- the title of the book is, indeed, Kaiju Preservation Society. Thank you, MonkeyToes! Mea culpa, yo.)
posted by wenestvedt at 2:09 PM on September 26, 2023 [3 favorites]

I couldn’t really read for all of 2020 and Diana Wynne Jones and Terry Pratchett helped snap me out of it. Bonus: both have great audiobooks available (the DWJ read by Jenny Sterlin and the Pratchett read by Stephen Briggs) if that would do the trick and if it sounds more approachable. I did a combo of paper and audio and that’s about all I read in 2020 but they made it feel possible.

Those are definitely genre and younger-geared though! For highly readable lit fic I recommend Kevin Wilson, Rebecca Makkai, True Biz by Sara Novic. You might also try R. Eric Thomas’s humorous essays.
posted by babelfish at 2:10 PM on September 26, 2023 [2 favorites]

Thrillers which dragged me to the next page helped me start reading again after an early pandemic pause.

I also realized that reading glasses helped; I didn't consciously recognize that it was actually physically harder to read, but it clearly was reducing my interest.
posted by metasarah at 2:15 PM on September 26, 2023 [1 favorite]

Road Fever: A High-Speed Travelogue by Tim Cahill is a fun ride. I enjoyed the suspense of "will these two guys break the Guinness world record for driving the length of the Americas?" In particular, light-hearted memoir about a stunt like this is nice because you get suspense but you're not actually worried that they're going to die in the undertaking. Cahill's an entertaining travel writer who lets us see his vulnerability around, for instance, feeling insecure about his masculinity when taking driving advice.
posted by brainwane at 2:33 PM on September 26, 2023 [2 favorites]

And in a supernatural/mystery kind of genre, I would suggest The Rook. It was a great page-turner.
posted by Windopaene at 2:39 PM on September 26, 2023 [2 favorites]

I find the sportswriter Steve Rushin to be warm, very funny, and concerned as much with Life as he is with sports.

His older book "Road Swing" (I think) still makes me laugh in recollection, and his two recent books about growing up in suburban Minnesota are lovely, too.

They kept me going Just One More Page much later than I intended, which would be good for your situation.
posted by wenestvedt at 3:12 PM on September 26, 2023 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: My last book club had too many rules and started re-reading classics. I enjoyed Anna Karenina the 1st time, less so the 2nd time. Same with some others. I got a degree in literature and don't need to be in school again. meh.

Now that covid's less scary(thank you vaccines) I'm looking for a book group.

I don't read much, if any, horror or suspense, a few mysteries if the character is really good, but that's a moving target.

wenestvedt, have you started your homework? Really?

Great ideas, thank you. don't stop.
posted by Mom at 3:26 PM on September 26, 2023 [2 favorites]

Oh! Essays helped me get through a slump. Ross Gay's Inciting Joy let me read thoughtful prose a little at a time.

Short novels like Jenny Offill's Weather and Department of Speculation scratched the literary fiction itch without being overwhelming to my lack of reading mojo, as did Emily St. John Mandel's Sea of Tranquility.

I guess my suggestion is writing that has internal breaks, or that's compact. (Or, as in the case of the Scalzi books I mentioned, something that's just a frank romp.) Anything to alleviate the sense of looking at a long read that you just don't have the energy for right now.
posted by MonkeyToes at 3:53 PM on September 26, 2023 [2 favorites]

RF Kuang's Babel is long, but a good, slow burn type of story. Her new one Yellowface is different but also good. It feels more adult but also more fun than Babel.
I found the Shadowseer series by Morgan Rice pretty compelling. There are 5 books but they are relatively short, like around 200 pages each
Alix E. Harrow has a new one called Starling House. I listened to it on NetGalley and it felt long, but it is only 320 pages in hardcover. I liked it, even if it has plenty of YA/NA tropes.
posted by soelo at 3:58 PM on September 26, 2023 [1 favorite]

wenestvedt, have you started your homework? Really?

I hate you! *sound of door slamming*

I hear you about the book club marching in to the sea -- that's why maybe a single workout partner could be better. After all, no one wants to tell the entire group to abandon the project, but it's easier to look one person in the eye and admit that you don't want to bother finishing the doorstop you're working on...as long as you pick something else to take its place!
posted by wenestvedt at 4:58 PM on September 26, 2023 [2 favorites]

Two sweet underrated books, based on your likes:

The Portable Veblen by Elizabeth McKenzie. I found it delightful, it’s worth a try and if you don’t like her style you can put it aside. A little quirky, but lovely.

Heroes of the Frontier by Dave Eggers. I know Eggers can be pretentious (I’ve read other of his works and thought that) but I found this book so comical and lovely and, in the end, very moving.

Oh, also, a YA book comes to mind, Rebecca Stead’s When You Reach Me. From the first review on Goodreads, “sure, it won the newbery and it is intended for children but it is a sweet, sad book about friendship and family and sacrifice that most adults could really appreciate.”

By the way, my next reco might be a little much to take on, except I’ve found that I’ve gotten totally absorbed in these books. I’m on the last book, Book 4, of the Neapolitan series by Elena Ferrante (translated from Italian by Ann Goldstein), and I’m trying to stretch it out because I know I’ll want more when I’m all done. (Or maybe I’ll be wrung out, I don’t know.) They’re not a hard read, but they are a looooong read. And, you know, there’s the absolutely perfect HBO adaptation too (they’ve only done the first three books so far with a fourth season on the way), if you’re into them.

I know these are kind of all over the place. But, like I said, they came to mind!
posted by SomethinsWrong at 5:05 PM on September 26, 2023 [2 favorites]

For literary fiction, if you haven't already read Wallace Stegner, I'd recommend Crossing to Safety, or Angle of Repose, both really good and easy to read.
posted by j810c at 5:28 PM on September 26, 2023 [2 favorites]

Riffing off your enjoying Pachinko and Chemistry, I think you’d really enjoy these two:

A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki - a sprawling metafiction epic connecting an American teen uprooted to Tokyo by her parents and a writer on an island off the coast of British Columbia who is reading the teen’s diary.
and
The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka - a brief but addictive novel told in third person plural (!) about Japanese mail order brides in early 20th century California.
posted by minervous at 5:00 AM on September 27, 2023 [1 favorite]

+1 to A Tale for the Time Being and The Buddha in the Attic.

Also riffing (loosely) on Pachinko, you could try something by Lisa See - though be warned, she doesn't flinch from wartime horrors inflicted on women; for minimal horrors, perhaps go for The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane - or you might like Above the East China Sea by Sarah Bird.

Riffing instead on Lessons in Chemistry, you might like A Dangerous Education by Megan Chance or The Atomic Weight of Love by Elizabeth J. Church.

There's No Such Thing as an Easy Job by Kikuko Tsumura is a contemporary Japanese novel divided into five parts. I found it very engaging.

I find Tracy Chevalier very readable. I don't know which book to recommend though. About the only thing her novels have in common with each other is that they're all historical; pick whichever country or era or subject (fossils? tapestry?) takes your fancy.

Perhaps you would like something by Sarah Moss. The Fell, Summerwater and Ghost Wall, her most recent three, are novellas; if you'd prefer something longer, I think my first choice would be Night Waking.

Alternatively, perhaps short stories would suit? Try Metamorphosis by Penelope Lively (or any of her earlier collections). Her novels are excellent too - short but thought-provoking - but I find them a little too dense when I'm not in the swing of reading.

One more. Light Perpetual by Francis Spufford follows the hypothetical lives of five children, "hypothetical" because all five are killed in an instant on page 5 by a WWII bomb. It's an unusual setup... But the book is very good, very engaging, and conveniently divided into easily followed strands.
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 9:34 AM on September 27, 2023 [3 favorites]

Response by poster: This is apt: During the pandemic, I lost the ability to read
posted by Mom at 1:56 PM on September 27, 2023 [2 favorites]

Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that I would recommend The Odyssey, but yet here I am. The translation by Emily Wilson is a can't put it down page turner. I just bought The Iliad, which came out on Monday and I can't wait to read it after I finish the book I'm currently reading.

Also Murderbot. Highly entertaining!
posted by bluesky43 at 1:58 PM on September 27, 2023 [1 favorite]

Mom, these lines of May's are it exactly: "I allowed my attention to be drawn again, rather than constantly forcing it toward things I thought I should be reading. I coaxed back my appetite with bite-size pieces, essays and chapters, stories and poems. I reread old favorites. I reminded myself to play."

What is inviting you to play these days?
posted by MonkeyToes at 2:10 PM on September 27, 2023 [2 favorites]

And it just now occurs to me that you might need Katherine May’s newest book, Enchantment: Awakening Wonder in an Anxious Age. It speaks directly to your reading slump.
posted by MonkeyToes at 7:48 PM on September 27, 2023 [2 favorites]

At the risk of not answering the question: it’s not a question about good books, but about habits. Structuring an analog reading habit will give you the space to change where you read. Set aside analog reading time in the calendar so you will actually read these engaging books.
posted by Miko at 8:30 PM on September 27, 2023 [1 favorite]

Adding-- leaving my screens in another room so that I have to get up to go get them makes it easier to read. I'm far too lazy to do that. Definitely helped to break my slump
posted by Ftsqg at 11:54 AM on September 28, 2023 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Murderbot Diaries and Psalm for the Well-Built hit the spot. I'm getting back in practice. I'll keep coming back, but won't be able to comment forever. I also read The Women Could Fly, and recommend it highly. and some other stuff. Will probably fo to one or another library book group.
posted by Mom at 12:40 PM on February 9 [1 favorite]

People who like Becky Chambers and Murderbot often also like, in my experience:

Courtney Milan's and K.J. Charles's romance novels
Ursula Vernon's (also writes as T. Kingfisher) short stories and novels
Naomi Novik's Temeraire historical fantasy novels
Terry Pratchett's Discworld fantasy novels
posted by brainwane at 4:31 AM on February 20 [1 favorite]

Rosemary Kirstein's "Steerswoman" novels are engaging and -- like the Murderbot Diaries -- feature a curious main character who's really good at analytic thinking, and who found a cadre of like-minded people and solves mysteries with them. Friendship, adventure, science, kind people finding stuff out, wonder, humor, dramatic irony, close observation that feeds into the protagonist's mystery-solving, skill-sharing, road trips, conversations about problem-solving and "what the heck is going on here" that feel like rooms I've been in, and scene descriptions that serve character and plot.

I heard about these books and started and finished all four of them within two weeks -- it was that immersive kind of reading that took me back to being a teenager, grabbing 5 spare minutes to get through a few more pages while walking from the subway to my destination.

Here's the first chapter of the first book as a free online read; you can buy the existing quartet as paper or ebook via her sidebar.

If you have not read these books, AVOID SPOILERS AND READ THE BOOKS IN ORDER, starting with The Steerswoman. Avoid also the paperback covers from the original print run as they contain spoilers!
posted by brainwane at 9:06 AM on February 20 [1 favorite]

I think that, like me, you may enjoy fiction centering on personal stakes, especially around labor and healing. Here are three short stories by authors who have also written a lot of other work, so if you like these stories, you can seek out more.

Will this craftsman find the materials he needs to make his masterpiece violin? (Rebecca Campbell's "An Important Failure"; MetaFilter discussion.)

Will this aunt successfully make the cake that she wants to serve as a gesture of reconciliation with her family? ("A Luxury Like Hope" by Aimee Ogden; MetaFilter discussion.)

Will this gig help two women build a new aircraft and find joy in their work again? ("Flightcraft" by Iona Datt Sharma; MetaFilter discussion.)
posted by brainwane at 9:17 AM on February 20 [1 favorite]

One person in a situation like yours was able to start reading again with Cory Doctorow's Red Team Blues.
posted by brainwane at 7:22 AM on March 8