We didn’t realize when we set a reading challenge for 2021 that the challenge would be actually, you know, reading. Who would have anticipated The Great Reading Slump of 2021?
Reading feels impossible these days (The Slump is powerful), but we haven’t stopped adding more books to our TBR piles. We still hope to hit those reading goals that we set for ourselves with dewy-eyed optimism as we kissed 2020 goodbye. We’re a book podcast and we love reading, so we persist. Nothing lasts forever, not even this pandemic, and certainly not a pesky reading slump.
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Our Summer 2021 Reading Challenge Summer Update
We’re rolling with the gut-punch that 2021 has been. And while we are staying accountable to each other, our reading challenge continues to be slow and steady. It’s the same for everyone we have talked to so there must be something in the literary air. But the new goal for our 2021 reading challenge is to forge on and see where we end up.
Jette
Despite a very slow start (and a few other rough patches), I’m only one book behind. I should be caught up in the next week though and be back on track. Like the Panic! At the Disco song, I had high hopes with my goal of 30.
I want to read. I have all the books to read. I know it’s still doable. I should get there. I have an audiobook on the go and a few physical books as well. My reading corner is cozy and inviting. I just have to accept the invitation. It hasn’t been about a lack of reading desire but after 16 pandemic months alone in my apartment, I just haven’t had the mental energy.
Most of what I have read has been for podcast episodes. In between, it’s been quick thrillers or other books that won’t take a lot out of me. Books are books. Reading is reading. It can’t (and shouldn’t) always be some heavy read that will stick with you and educate your being. They can be fun and fluffy, or #IcedCoffeeReads as I like to call them. You’re still reading, and as a writer, everything I read is going to help me with my writing.
Gen
When I set my reading goal at the end of last year, 60 books seemed like a perfectly reasonable number. I’ve done it before, and, as I’ve mentioned, it hits that sweet spot of challenging yet achievable. But I was unprepared for The Slump.
We’re officially halfway through the year and I’m four books behind schedule according to The Storygraph. Most of the books I’ve read have been specifically for the podcast. My TBR pile keeps throwing me baleful looks from its precarious perch on my bookshelf.
I am still reading, just much more slowly than usual, in little bursts here and there. Sometimes, I’ll admit, I have to force myself. I wonder if that’s the best approach, but the most frustrating thing about The Slump is that I want to read! It’s just that, you know, I also don’t. What can I say? I contain multitudes.
I’m trying not to be too hard on myself. As I told my cousin recently, the important thing isn’t how many books we read, but that we’re making more time to read. So I’m going to keep carving out little moments to sink into a book. And if I do something else instead? Well, that’s okay, too.
Top 5 Books We’re Looking Forward to Reading This Summer and Beyond
The Slump may be strong, but we’re stronger. Not only have we managed to read a few of the books we listed in our 2021 Reading Challenge post, we’ve also added some more to the list. (Hey, a girl can dream.)
Jette
I was very surprised when I looked back at my 2021 Top 5 List as I had read three of them! My TBR has fluctuated a lot so reading three feels like a great accomplishment. Especially considering I’ve only read 14 all year long. I’m not a planner like Gen (except for my summer TBR – blog post link).
Looking to the rest of the year and with hopes of more brain power for heavier books, here are the five books I can’t wait to get to before the year ends.
- Lost in the Never Woods by Aiden Thomas
- The Prophets by Robert Jones Jr.
- Nine Stories by J.D. Salinger
- The Devil Finds Work by James Baldwin
- We Keep the Dead Close by Becky Cooper
Gen
Somehow I managed to read all the books on my 2021 Top 5 List. I think the fact that they were new releases helped motivate me. There’s something contagious about the enthusiasm of other readers.
Here are five more books I’m looking forward to reading this year:
- Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley
- Our Violent Ends by Chloe Gong
- The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
- The Changeling by Victor LaValle
- The Scapegracers by Hannah Abigail Clarke
An Update on Our 2021 Writing Goals
By now you know that we are the same person. Taking our friendship virtual for over a year hasn’t stopped that. We booked ourselves separate writing retreats for the exact same days because of course we did. Gen went to an Airbnb to connect with nature and write while Jette jumped on Zoom for the Jackson Hole Writers Conference we learned about in our episode with Tiffanie Debartolo (episode link). Here’s to the rest of the year and hopefully some good writing.
Jette
Even worse than the reading slump has been my writing slump. However, I’m filled with possibility after my “retreat.” I really hope that next year I can actually go to Wyoming to attend the Jackson Hole Writers conference in person. I can’t wait to experience it and all the inspiration the Grand Teton National Park can pour over me.
More and more, I’m realizing I may never write a novel. But I may be a poet and a short story writer. Some kind of hybrid experimental version of writing. And that’s okay. I’m going to lean into it and embrace it. An idea hit me late one night – an art collective for people to share their creative ideas and work together on projects so I think this will keep me writing and creating as well.
With Fridays off this summer, I’m officially proclaiming them as my writing days. Last year, I felt the pressure of fitting in five minutes or two pages of writing everyday. Instead, now it’s one day each week.
A slow morning with my coffee ritual will be followed by letting the words flow as they choose. I will work on my short story collection. I will start storyboarding my vampire convenience store story for my friend to illustrate and I will see where this new poetry vibe takes me.
Gen
It’s funny to look back at goals and find yourself in a completely different place than you’d expected. As you might know, I’m enrolled in the Humber School for Writers and am currently working on a YA manuscript about teen witches. I went into the program with about 60,000 words of that manuscript. I’ve since scrapped most of it.
It’s one of the unbearable truths about writing, the one we like to lie to ourselves about because otherwise we might never start: so much of writing is rewriting. Sometimes you have to write the version that doesn’t work in order to get to the one that does. And you know what? My manuscript is better for it. I probably will end up with a query-ready manuscript. Just not as early as I’d expected. It’s worth it because this program has made me into a better, more confident writer.
As for the journal writing habit I keep saying I’m going to start? I’m scrapping that, too. I’ve resigned myself to the fact that it simply isn’t for me. Instead, I’ve taken to writing an occasional tiny letter. It serves basically the same purpose, but with an audience. If you have any interest in listening to my ramblings beyond the podcast and this blog, you can subscribe here.
Another Book on the Shelf’s Exciting 2021 Plans – Stay Tuned!
Our 2021 reading year may have started off slow, but we have so many exciting episodes coming your way this summer. We’ll be talking about our most recent book club selection, Slave Play, first thing in July. After that, we’re highlighting our favourite essay collections.
In August, we’re teaming up with Coach House Books again to discuss some of their recent releases. Then we have another installment of our Bookstagram Made Me Do It series with Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley.
Our next Book Club title is Future Home of the Living God by Louise Erdrich. The episode will air first thing in September, so you’ve got all summer to read along! Send us any thoughts you have about it before the end of August and we’ll include them in the episode.
We can’t believe it’s been almost three years since we started this podcast! We’re looking forward to celebrating our anniversary with you this fall. Thank you so much for listening and following along on this bookish podcast adventure with us!
