The Nasty Side Effects of Reading A Good Book

No use covering it up anymore. I have found there are dark and sinister side-effects after reading an Incredible Book.

Have you heard of a “book hangover”?

Now you have.

Book hangovers are unfortunate things that often occur after you read a really extremely incredibly unbelievably good book.

But the tricky part starts, see, when you want to start a new book. Say goodbye to the finished one. Put it back on the shelf. Exit your kindle. Whatever needs be done…you’re ready for a brand new bookish adventure.

I find (unfortunately) that after reading a good book it’s highly possible I’ll dislike my next read.

That doesn’t seem fair! Or right! What did the next book on my TBR ever do?!

I read books according to release date if they’re ARCs and expiry-date if they’re library books. Most of my books have a small ticking bomb on them. What? I’m a writer. Drama is part of the job description. So I don’t specifically pick books according to what I feel like reading. I just grab what’s next.

So let’s look at my habits, shall we?

From Dangerous Girls to The Seventh Miss Hatfield

I was already dubious about The Seventh Miss Hatfield because a) I didn’t request it so who knows what it holds, and b) I’m not into period time-travel books. Ever. And let’s not underestimate the mind blowing “WHAT JUST HAPPENED” feeling a poor reader gets after encountering Dangerous Girls. Honestly. I had to stop and just remember how to breathe for a while.

Miss Hatfield was a woeful transition.

From The Book Thief to Rebel Belle

I was 98% sure I’d love The Book Thief … but I underestimated myself. That book is amazing people! IT IS GENIUS. I was all feels and snivelling tears and admiring the writing style and telling Lydia (again) that she recommends me horrible horrible books that I love so much. Thanks for nothing, my friend.

I went straight on to read Rebel Belle because it was my Goodreads groups’ next book club read. I’d never done a book club, so…excited! It was…not what I thought. No fried chicken. A bit of unrealistic ninja activity instead. I was slightly skeptical.

From Crown of Midnight to Sweetly

GIVE ALL THE STARS TO CROWN OF MIDNIGHT! Give more stars! And stickers! And tears! And, ugh, smack it hard because it absolutely messed with my feels and broke my heart into itty bitty pieces and please…leave me alone to die.

I felt altogether way too meh about Sweetly. Barely anything even happened. I didn’t hate the villain. And I forgot to like the love-interest.

From A Monster Calls to A Midsummer’s Nightmare

I discovered a burning passion for Patrick Ness books after I read More Than This. But I didn’t think A Monster Calls would be that…that SAD. Do not underestimate the middle-grade tag. This absolutely stole my heart. A tree stole my heart. A MONSTER tree, no less. It was good, okay?!

And then…what absolutely fluff did I read with A Midsummer’s Nightmare?! I was expecting great things from Kody Keplinger because this was my second read of hers and The Duff really impressed me. But this?! This was awkward and had zero plot and was fairly “been-there-read-that”. I felt altogether too let down afterwards.

These are sad statistics!

I don’t mean to, I honestly don’t. I try to always go into a book with, a) and open mind, and b) medium-expectations. Super high expectations are dangerous and mildly exhausting. So I’m not really sure I can fix this.

Although there are exceptions.

Sometimes I wonder if there’s a tendency to rate books lower after an amazing book. But then sometimes I wonder if I just don’t always pick amazing books?! That is possible. I’m awesome, of course, but I don’t always pick the gold books.

Obviously I know wish for your opinion on this matter.

Do you notice yourself rating books lower after a particularly awesome book? Do you get book hangovers so hard you feel all the other books are dry and meh worthy?? Or do you just think it’s luck of whatever-comes-next-off-my-TBR??

Confess all. I will guard your secrets carefully.

Mwha haha ha.

Cait read a lot of good books last week. In fact, she even dished out two 5-star stickers and flailed (annoyingly? NEVER) on twitter about Messenger of Fear and why everyone should read it and why she needs book #2 right now. Despite the fact she DOES give 5-stars out, her average rating is only 3.6-stars. Obviously she sucks at picking books sometimes. (And yes, Psych is awesome. Wanna split a pineapple?)