Credit: Victoria Ford / Penguin
No matter how much you love reading, it can be a delicate habit: all it takes is a particularly busy spell at work, a sudden infatuation with a video game, or a draining bout of illness to make you suddenly lose touch with books for a moment. It happens to everyone.
Yet reading is a persistent habit, too: wonderfully immersive and often compulsive, it’s never too far away to find your way back to. Which is why readers all seem to have a “reset read” – the book, series, medium or genre that always reminds us of why we love reading, and helps kickstart our journey through our book piles anew. Below, we asked our colleagues around the Penguin office about the books they read to conquer their reading slumps. What are yours?
Don’t get me started on the snobbery of readers who think graphic novels are simplistic or “easy” – those people have clearly never read the works of Chris Ware or Alison Bechdel – but there is something about comics that always helps ease me out of a slump. The medium demands a different style of reading, and the balance of images to words, not to mention their interaction, feels so immersive that it always hooks me back into prose novels.
This Christmas, I made a foray into superhero comics by delving into the Penguin Classics edition of The Amazing Spider-Man , which provides essays about why superhero comics came to such cultural prominence in mid-20th-century before getting into the first, formative stores about the now-iconic web-slinger. I was back into reading in no time.
Soul of the Deep
Soul of the Deep is the second book in Natasha Bowen’s brilliant YA novel series that follows Simidele, a MamiWata, or mermaid, as she goes on epic quests to save the ones she loves. I had read the first in the series, Skin of the Sea early last year, and absolutely loved it for its rich imagery and strength of the fantastical world Bowen created. In 2022 I found it really hard to pick up a book and finish it, but when Soul of the Deep came out in September, I finished it in a weekend.
The reason I was able to do this was because of the intensity of the level of escapism I experience when reading Bowen’s books. I loved this series because of the way it turns a complex and challenging part of our known history – namely, the kidnap of African people by Europeans to America – on its head and chooses to focus on a new, entirely unique facet of it. Bowen’s in-depth research and love of Yoruba culture and cosmology shines through on every page, fully immersing you in her creative interpretation of West Africa in the 15th Century.
When I haven’t picked up a book in a while, the thought of diving back in with a 400-pager feels mildly terrifying. For me, a kinder reintroduction, without the big commitment, comes in the form of short stories.
My favourite compilation is Complete Stories by Clarice Lispector. With her otherworldly, almost philosophical prose, Lispector creates vivid worlds in as little as three pages, and the pace and variety within the collection inspire me to think openly and excitedly about the kind of book I’d like to pick up next. For me, these bite-size stories are a perfect reminder of the joy to be found in getting lost in a good book.
On Beauty by Zadie Smith, chosen by Alice Vincent, Digital Editor
There are various reasons as to why I’ll fall into a reading slump, and given that I’ve usually got at least a couple of books on the go, it’s often what I’m reading: perhaps it’s a story I’m just not connecting with, or some particularly heavy-going non-fiction that demands attention I can’t spare. More often than not, it’s my phone .
But Zadie Smith’s third novel generally gets me back to books, mostly because it reminds me of just how joyful, comforting and escapist reading can be. Smith writes relatively dense, detailed and immersive novels – they’re not what people would call page-turners, perhaps. But On Beauty , in particular, always feels like a warm bath: her portrayal of two rival families on opposite factions of an academic town in America manages to take me away from whatever else is unfolding in that moment. For a few cosy afternoons, mornings or evenings, Smith’s world is the only one I want to inhabit.
Ways of Seeing by John Berger, chosen by Flynn Shore, Digital Designer
Getting back into reading is often an exercise in returning to learning for me. As a result, the books I read tend towards non-fiction explanation or examination of my interests.
John Berger’s Ways of Seeing was a favourite of my dad’s; he showed me the documentary series of the same name growing up and it influenced many of the conversations we had about art during my childhood. The book itself looks into how society and societal norms can shape how different subjects are expressed and how ideas permeate the imagery we see. It always refreshes how I visit galleries and see the world, and the reminder of how much I don't know always pushes me to read more.
When I find myself abandoning books that haven’t grabbed my attention within the first few pages, I tend to reach for something from the crime section instead. With devilishly puzzling plots, tantalising cliff-hangers, and satisfyingly short chapters that compel me to keep turning the pages, these are the novels that always help reignite my love of reading.
Ruth Ware is an author who does all of this consistently well, weaving together cosy crime tropes with a modern twist, and The Death of Mrs Westaway – about a dysfunctional family living in a grand country house, with buried family secrets and a questionable long-lost relative who has inherited the lot – is one of my favourites. If you’re looking for a book to hook you right away, this is the one.
When I’m in a reading slump I think about what I need to get me back to the flow of things: something easy, something fast, and something that keeps me turning the page. For me, that means one thing: a thriller. Whether you prefer the crime, mystery, or psychological kind, thrillers always suck me back into reading.
I recently read Lonely Castle in the Mirror by Mizuki Tsujimura to pull myself out of the depths of a reading slump, and it worked a treat. Whilst not a thriller in a typical sense, Tsujimura brings you into a magical world full of twists and intrigue. It also reminded me books can make you feel a lot ! I couldn’t put it down, which exactly what I needed to end my slump.
