I’ve been really pants at posting on here recently.

In fairness I haven’t done a huge amount of reading recently. But I’ve also had things going on in my personal life too.

Nevertheless, I want to give a brief update of where I’m at right now.

I had intended to post TBR’s for February and March, but that failed. Anyway…

Yesterday I finished reading The Spell Shop by Sarah Beth Durst. I started this book early in February, and I quite enjoyed it but found it fairly slow at the same time.

Part of me is starting to think that cosy fantasy books aren’t entirely for me. I like books with a faster pace and more action. But it was still a really cute story with some wonderful characters and a lot of creativity. A solid four star read, I’d say.

Today I picked up a book that I started last summer. That book is Caliban’s War by James S.A. Corey.

This is the second book in The Expanse series, which I believe ends up being a total of nine books.

I don’t think I’ve picked this book up since at least November. And I’m only about a third of the way into this book. It took me a bit of time this evening to get back into the story, but I think I’m almost there.

This book is the complete opposite of a cost fantasy. It is a violent, aggressive sci-fi opera. None of the characters can be described as “cute” like in The Spell Shop. They are gritty and flawed and damaged. But I think that’s why I enjoy this book.

I really want to complete it before the coming summer. I can allow myself to spend longer than a year on this one book. Lol.

Which brings me onto my most recent thought:

If I want to read more books, then I’m going to have to be more conscious about how often I read. Therefore I’m going to challenge myself to read twenty pages every day. This should help me to complete a book every three weeks or so, depending on the length of the book.

In theory, once I get in the habit of reading twenty pages a day it will become easier. Then I can challenge myself to read a little bit more, say twenty-five pages a day, until that becomes comfortable. Then I can raise the target a bit higher.

I want it to be a bit of a challenge, but I don’t want it to put me off reading.

Twenty pages a day feels manageable.

But now that I work term time only, once I reach the school holidays, I ought to be able to read more each day. But we’ll see about that when we get there.

I’m just thinking on the spot here. But I like to think of different ways to encourage myself to read more.

Do you get reading slumps often? How do you encourage yourself to keep reading when you are having a difficult time?

Let me know in the comments, I could really use some encouragement at the moment.

Until next time,

Love, Bobbi. Xx.