Stuck: Why We Can't (or Won't) Move on | 
I‘ve been AWOL lately because I feel really stuck in my reading. I‘m 3/4 of the way done with Iron Gold and The Stranger Beside Me, but for whatever reason I‘m just not enjoying either book. And yet I can‘t seem to bail — I‘ve come so far! I‘m at about 450/600 pgs and I‘ve never abandoned a book that far in. But the remaining 150 pgs feel interminable. What do you do when you feel like “A Wedged Bear in Great Tightness” in your reading life?
Bourriquet76 Old favorite or something super light (cozy mystery or chick lit) 7y
tomes4gnomes @Bourriquet76 My current two are VERY heavy (in different ways) and something lighter, a world in which I can gleefully escape, does sound so much better right now. 7y
TricksyTails I usually switch to a graphic novel/comic. Get in some laughs. If that doesn‘t work, then I try a different medium like audiobooks or podcasts. Do you listen to any audio? 7y
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Andrew65 I tend to return to a favourite author or book, which is light and easy reading. 7y
tomes4gnomes @TricksyTails A graphic novel is a great idea. I‘ve been dabbling in audiobooks, but I struggle to finish them in the 2 wk loan period from my library. I‘m currently listening to All Things Bright and Beautiful and it‘s totally delightful, so maybe I should just spend more time with that. I think the real problem is that I have tons of books I‘d rather be reading than the 2 I‘m stuck on now, but can‘t seem to give myself permission to quit them. 7y
tomes4gnomes @Andrew65 Yes, it would definitely help to switch to something that will remind me I actually like reading, lol. ☺️ 7y
DGRachel You‘ve already been given the advice I had, but I will just add that if you‘re 450 pages into Iron Gold and you still aren‘t feeling it - BAIL NOW! The remaining 150 pages aren‘t going to be any better. I read it, and liked it, but it was definitely a slog. Pierce is practically building a whole new world and just setting up the rest of the new trilogy. Nothing gets resolved. Nothing. And Dark Age is going to hurt worse than Golden Son, I fear. 7y
tomes4gnomes @DGRachel Thanks for the advice re: Iron Gold. I‘m such a huge fan of the Red Rising trilogy and it‘s making me feel stubborn about this one — why don‘t I like it?! 😫 I was so excited to read it, but I‘m struggling with the shift to multiple POVs, my dislike of Ephraim and Lysander, and the fact that it now feels more like a political cage-fight between titans rather than the awesome rise of misfits and underdogs. ☹️ 7y
DGRachel I‘m right there with you. I struggled with the multiple POVs, HATE Lysander with the heat of a thousand dying suns, and have never wanted to slap Darrow more. I‘m a huge fan of the original trilogy, too, but you almost have to divorce the originals from Iron Gold. Good luck, whatever you decide. Maybe just set it aside for a while and come back closer to the Dark Age release or come back then the whole trilogy is out. 7y
Sharpeipup This is how I‘ve felt lately. Stuck in a reading rut. 7y
TricksyTails I‘m the same way. It pained me to give up on Strata and The Dark Side of the Sun but they were putting me into such a slump. I tell myself I‘m setting them aside for now and can always revisit them another time. At least that‘s what I *try* to convince myself to believe. 😆 Hope you find something that gets you out of this slump soon! 7y
tomes4gnomes @TricksyTails @DGRachel Thanks for your ideas! I‘ve “set aside” the true crime book (since I own it I can at least pretend I might go back to it eventually) and I‘m just trying to buckle down and finish Iron Gold since it‘s a library book. But I‘m gonna go to the library today so I can have an exciting new stack waiting in the wings. 📚😍🤤 7y
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