If you read the title of this blog quickly, don’t worry, I’m not going to enumerate the many and varied ways I’m attempting to get back into something resembling shape this January, though that has unfortunately been a preoccupation of mine these past few, dark weeks. No, what I realized today was that it was about time I shook myself out of a reading rut. This happens periodically. That’s not to say I’ve not been reading anything I’ve enjoyed, or which was utter tripe, but I find it very easy to go on reading binges. When I’m introduced to a new series or a new author I’ve particularly liked, a month or more can go by without me reading anything else. Recent case in point: I took a friend up on her recommendation and read The Hunger Games. Two weeks later and I’ve flown through a second hand copy of book one, then switched to ebook editions when I just had to see immediately what was going to happen next over books 2 and 3. (A verdict on the side: the premise is fantastic, ditto book one, but didn’t feel that the latter, revolution against Panem narratives, packed nearly as much punch).

Anyway, if you were to profile my reading habits I’m pretty sure a pattern would start to emerge. Perhaps the most overwhelming one is that I must feel that I’m learning something, even from my leisure reading. So, historical fiction, with a weighting towards the First and Second World Wars, forms a big part of my literary diet. Throw in an exotic setting, or unusual or little-known aspect of social history and I’ll lap it up. In a nutshell (yum), that’s why I jumped on the likes of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, by Jamie Ford, and today, whilst browsing online I came across The Buddha in the Attic which, encapsulating as it does the experiences of Japanese-American women before and during internment, sounds very reminiscent of Jamie Ford’s debut, plus it’s had some equally cracking reviews.

But I’m going to resist for the sake of my literary stomach, in case the premise ‘repeats’ on me, and mix things up a little. Perhaps I’ll finally pick up the copy of A Visit from the Goon Squad that’s been on my bedside table for weeks.

Does anyone else find themselves ‘stuck’, for lack of a better word, on certain courses of reading?

Lesley-Anne Crooks, Sale & Digital Manager