Books to Bring You Out of a Reading Slump

Have you ever been in a reading slump where you picked up a book at the bookstore, or the library, began reading it with fruitful hope, and it just didn’t entice you? I cannot count the number of badly written fiction books I’ve bought at Barnes and Nobles or the number of times I’ve simply couldn’t finish a book for a lack of interest in it. As an English major, it can be an extensive, exhausting search to find a book that meets your everchanging criteria for a good read. As I learn and grow in my literary tastes, the list of criteria only gets longer and longer, causing me to wish for the existence of an electronic database that could garner up a list of books checking the boxes for me. In an effort to get out of my reading slump, and find a rejuvenated literary energy, I conducted a survey asking classmates from Cal Poly Pomona to recommend a book for the community.  Here are the responses: 

1. Palace Walk by Naguib Mahfouz 

2. Ines del Alma Mia by Isabel Allende 

3. The Wretched of the Earth by Frantz Fanon

4. Night by Ellie Wiesel 

5. Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace 

Apart from Night by Ellie Wiesel, I have not read these recommendations, and after compiling some research on them, I have found them all to be promising leads to break a reading slump. 

Palace Walk by Naguib Mahfouz is encouraging as it is the first installation to a trilogy. Palace Walk can be characterized as Historical Fiction, as the characters are set in the chaotic Egyptian revolutions from British control. The Penguin Random House reader’s guide calls it “an intimate view of a culture that has not been well understood by those outside of it,”(“Palace Walk Reader’s Guide”). If you love it, there’s good news because you can read the next two: Palace of Desire and Sugar Street.

Inés del Alma Mía by Isabel Allende is also historical fiction, set in the sixteenth century during the colonization of Latin America. The novel depicts the life events of Inés Suárez, a conquistadora who was known to have contributed to the formation of the city of Santiago, Chile (Inés del Alma Mía).  Crafted by Allende, the reader can witness her signature style within magical realism. 

The Wretched of the Earth by Frantz Fanon is a literary theory classic where Fanon won his intellectual acclaim in the movement for decolonization. Fanon’s work depicted the negative psychological effects of colonization on a people (Peterson). It is a classic and I’m sure it is covered in literary theory classes. If Fanon stood out to you, you can read his groundbreaking work. 

Night by Ellie Wiesel is another literary classic. If you haven’t already read it, it is a book not to be taken lightly as it is an account of Wiesel’s survival from Auschwitz and Buchenwald. It will tug at your conscience and rightfully so. However, Night wasn’t always considered a classic, and it wasn’t decades after its publication that it became a staple to high school and higher education curriculum. In fact, several publishers even rejected Night, claiming it failed as a piece of art (Donadio). Incredible to imagine that a piece so essential to the literary education bookshelf was once not even considered publishable. 

If you would like to read something that will tug at your mind, that is described as “a genuinely groundbreaking novel of language,” you should read David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest (Bissell). The New York Times writer Tom Bissell writes that Wallace’s writing will alter the readers’ perspective of the world, training the reader to view the world through Wallace’s prose. Bissell also argues that Infinite Jest will continue to baffle readers as everyone who reads it, leaves with their own theory of the novel (Bissell). Bissell’s article leaves me curious to enter into the prose of Infinite Jest.

 The books listed above range in style, voice and content– enough variety to cure anyone of a reading slump. With a little cup of tea, a nice comfy spot to read and the recommendations of your peers, your next favorite book awaits. 

Works Cited: 

Bissell, Tom. “Everything About Everything: David Foster Wallace’s ‘Infinite Jest’ at 20.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 1 Feb. 2016, http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/07/books/review/everything-about-everything-david-foster-wallaces-infinite-jest-at-20.html.

Donadio, Rachel. “The Story of ‘Night’.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 20 Jan. 2008, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/20/books/review/Donadio-t.html.

“Inés Del Alma Mía – Isabel Allende.” Agencia Literaria Carmen Balcells, http://www.agenciabalcells.com/en/authors/works/isabel-allende/ines-del-alma-mia/.

Palace Walk Reader’s Guide. Penguin Random House, http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/106183/palace-walk-by-naguib-mahfouz/9780307947109/readers-guide/.

Peterson, Charles. “Frantz Fanon.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 2 Dec. 2019, http://www.britannica.com/biography/Frantz-Fanon#ref92361.