Saturday, June 19, 2010

Slow-Motion Reading

I hate when this happens! I'm mired in the middle of 3 books right now and can't seem to finish any of them. Did I say finish? I'd be happy if I could just make it to the middle of at least one. It feels like my eyeballs stepped in chewing gum. There's a familiar whooshing sound followed by a decisive sounding gurgle. That's the sound of my dream of triple digits 3 years in a row going down the toilet.

Here's what I'm reading and my limping progress:

1. Love and Hate in Jamestown - David Price. 33% pages read.
2. The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket - Edgar Allen Poe. 37.5% pages read.
3. How Soccer Explains The World - Franklin Foer. 27% pages read.

All of these books are well-written and engaging, so that's not the reason for my malaise. However, I am reading the Poe novella in a PDF format on my laptop. There are 2 columns of print on each page, so I'm constantly scrolling back and forth, which plays hell with my concentration.

No matter what, I've got to finish Poe this weekend. My Cracked Spinz book group is meeting Tuesday to discuss it. Also, the book about Jamestown is due back at the library next week. The soccer book is mine. I might finish it in time for the 2014 World Cup.

Everytime this bogged-down stuff happens, I worry that it might become a permanent condition.

9 comments:

Kathleen said...

Don't worry, I'm sure you'll break out of your reading slump soon enough. I've had plenty of times like this and I always seem to get back in the groove eventually.

Bybee said...

Kathleen,
I finished the book about Jamestown, so I feel a little better now.

Unruly Reader said...

Take heart -- reader's block is always a temporary condition. (I'm stuck in the middle of a presidential bio at the moment, so I'm pep-talking myself here, too!)

Bybee said...

Unruly,
Which president?

B said...

I'm in a bit of a reading slump myself, despite being in the middle of a fantastic book. For me, I think it's the summer and the heat that is slowing me down. Not to mention there is so much more going on this time of year.

I'll get back to my normal pace eventually, and I know you will too :)

Bookfool said...

I see you finished a book, so I don't have to cheerlead. That would have been a total bummer. ;)

I'm having a ridiculously slumpy month, myself. I've read a grand total of 4 books. I just can't seem to get myself interested in reading. I'm trying to just roll with it, but it's a little like rolling over the pointy ends of nails with flames rising between them. V. painful. I do think summer has something to do with it. We've had heat advisories for over 2 weeks, now. It's only natural to be sluggish.

How was Jamestown? Huzzybuns has ancestry in the first successful settlement at Jamestown, which makes his family pre-Mayflower. How cool is that? My family's not that tough. The Indians would have eaten us.

Bybee said...

Brenna,
What is your fantastic book?

Bookfool,
Love and Hate in Jamestown was a good read. Author David Price has quite the man-crush on John Smith, and rightfully so! That's cool that Mister Bookfool has Jamestown roots, but I hope his ancestors weren't the inept wasters that had about as much business settling a new world as squid have wearing pantyhose.

Michele said...

I do the same thing, heh heh. Usually, I have to grab some silly mass-market, cheap-thrills, paperback to get me out of the slump. But I hope you don't have to resort to such drastic measures. :)

Unruly Reader said...

Bybee,
The very first president. I'm not wild about that Revolutionary War period, and it shows. The book is good; the reader, lousy.

I had this great, super-amazingly good idea that I'd read the remaining books in presidential order to complete the U.S. Presidents Reading Project. Maybe not. Am fairly aching for a good 20th century bio.