Top Ten Tuesday #173

Hi guys! This past week was my last week at my summer job, so after almost seven very long, very stressful weeks I am finally done! It’s been an….ah…interesting experience to say the least, not something I think I want to do again, but it was certainly something new and different to my usual summer shop jobs, so that’s something at least. I have a great week coming up, I got to go and catch up with my friends from school, Hannah and Zoe in London yesterday which was super fun, we basically just sat and chatted for eight hours straight! I’m also going up to Scotland on Thursday to see my friend Nicola, who I haven’t seen since before she left for her semester in Prague in January and we’re going to see The Guilty Feminist at the Edinburgh Fringe, so that’s going to be great as well. I may only have just over two weeks of my summer holiday left (how, I swear this one has gone so much faster than all the others!) but I’m going to make the most of it.

So anyway, that is definitely enough of me rambling, let’s get on with today’s topic! Today Jana has asked us to talk about reading slumps, something I’m sure every blogger has experienced at one point or another, so I’m going to be talking about the Top Ten Books That Have Got Me Out of Reading Slumps. As carefully as I try to pick my reads, sometimes, through no fault of my own, slumps happen! These are the books that have helped me get through those slumps:

1. The Girl From Everywhere-Heidi Heilig

Basically last September, I just had a really bad slumpy month, which was awful considering that my birthday is in September. Anyway, I was feeling kind of bored with everything I was reading and struggling to finish any of my Netgalley e-arcs. This book wasn’t perfect, but it was just what I needed at the time, something short and fun and that I could just dive head first into and forget about the real world, especially since I had a lot of assignments whilst I was reading it!

2. The Assassin’s Blade-Sarah J Maas

Honestly, the less said about my 2015 reading slump, the better. It was not a good year for me, with A-Levels and starting Uni, I had my worst reading year I think possibly ever and in addition to not reading much, what I was reading? Yeah, didn’t particularly enjoy much of it. So after a few less than stellar books, it was nice to dive into a world I loved again and enjoy some more of Celaena’s adventures.

3. Between Shades of Gray-Ruta Sepetys

Ah, another survivor of the reading slump of 2015. Again, this book came on the heels of several books that I had mixed feelings about, so whilst calling this book enjoyable feels slightly wrong, given the subject matter, it was definitely one that I found really interesting and yes sad, but also touching and hopeful which I think is the best of all possible combinations. Honestly, if you haven’t read any of Ruta Sepetys’ historical fiction, you definitely should, because they are so good.

4. Heir of Fire-Sarah J Maas

Yup, another 2015 book-basically in 2015, I read about 4 books I really loved, Undivided (which I read at the beginning of the year before the slump set in), this book, Between Shades of Gray and The Assassin’s Blade. Everything else I read that year either fell in the category of “not good” or “decidedly mediocre”. So after a run of decidedly mediocre books, it was nice to fall back into a world that I truly loved, with a story that completely shattered my heart but in the best possible way!

5. Chainbreaker-Tara Sim

After another slightly mediocre month in 2017, this time November, I was really dying for something that I would just fall head over heels in love with and thankfully, Chainbreaker was that book. Seriously more people need to talk about this series, it’s a super cool Victorian steampunk style world, it has the absolute sweetest and softest m/m romance ever, this particular book is set mostly in India and the disapora storyline for one of the characters which was based off the author’s own experience was just so touching. Plus THAT ENDING THOUGH. I really need Firestarter like yesterday.

6. The Exact Opposite of Okay-Laura Steven

I had kind of a mini slump in February where I was reading Wintersong for most of the month, and yeah, really not enjoying it but I was super stubborn and powered through to the end (if you are feeling slumpy, please never do this). The Exact Opposite of Okay was exactly the book I needed coming off of Wintersong, it was short, it was super funny and feminist and ugh, I just loved it so much, it definitely got me back into the mood to be reading again.

7. The Language of Thorns-Leigh Bardugo

Much like TEOOO, I read this one coming off a book that I had been struggling with for a good part of April, Hero At The Fall, which I was disappointed with because it was one I was expecting to love and it just didn’t quite live up to my expectations. Anyway, The Language of Thorns was the perfect book to read coming out of that, it was short and really immersive, and from an author I already know I like, all things that equal beating a reading slump before it starts.

8. Scythe-Neal Shusterman

This was another book that I read in October last year, coming off my September slump and it was another really great one. If you are ever in a reading slump, I definitely recommend reading a book by a favourite author, because 9 times out of ten that I will really help. Scythe had such a cool concept and although the pacing was a little slow at times, the characters and the concept definitely carried it through for me.

9. A Court of Mist and Fury-Sarah J Maas

I wasn’t necessarily in a slump when I read this one, but I was coming off a run of 3.5 star books which I had enjoyed but hadn’t LOVED, so it was great to read a book that I completely fell for, as the last book that I had loved in 2017 before I read this one was A Conjuring of Light, which I read all the way back in February/March time, so by this point two months later, it was great to read something that I truly loved again.

10. A Darker Shade of Magic-VE Schwab

I didn’t have the best reading month in June 2016, but then I picked up this book towards the end of June, beginning of July and it not only brought me out of my slight slump, it also became one of my absolute favourite books not just of 2016, but ever. Seriously guys, you all need to read this book if you haven’t, it’s so good.

So there you have it, the books I’ve read to get me out of reading slumps, be they major or minor! Apparently Sarah J Maas is my go to for getting out of reading slumps, which I did not realise until today! Have you read any of these? Did you enjoy them? What books have got you out of, or helped you avoid, reading slumps over the years? Let me know in the comments.

Next week’s topic is a Back To School Freebie, just in time for me heading back to Uni the week after, so I’m going to talk about Books I’m Planning To Read At Uni This Year (fiction of course, not books I’ll be reading for my course, those are a given!). In the meantime, I’m hoping to have a new discussion post for you guys up before I go to Scotland on Thursday!