My Great Book Burn Out and Why I’m Sick of Reading New(er) Books

Many things can be hidden by the facade of social media, which can be both a good thing and a bad thing. If you were in my house right now, you would see piles and piles of books I have read, not read, or tried to read/have read but hated.

These piles have been fluctuating in size due to the major clean out and organizing I have been doing for many months. While trying to decide what to keep and what to get rid of, I have slowly realized books is one of the things I want to get rid of, but have a hard time doing so. I like reading and invested a lot of time and money to create my library. This is why I struggle letting go of my books.

Yet, I’m in a major burn out of books. I have been trying to find books I want to keep but so far I’m struggling to find some I want to keep. For the most part, all the books I want to get rid of the most were published within the past ten years.

There are several reasons why I don’t like these books. The first is due to the repetitive nature of many of the book’s plots. They are quite predictable. Secondly, the characters are shallow. Third, the way the book was written is dry to me. The list of complaints I have goes on and on, but for the most part these reasons depends on the book itself.

During my search for books I really do want to keep, I rediscovered books I used to love and now can say I still do. So, they’ll stay. Yet, there are reasons why I like them so much. One of the major reasons is because they are just so well written, not to mention the plot, character development, and more. I enjoy reading them time and time again. Whenever I read them, I feel like I’m rewatching a favorite movie of mine, one that I will always want to watch no matter how much time passes.

Sadly, I can’t say that about all the newer books I own.

If you have been recently searching online for book recommendations, specifically on TikTok or Youtube, then you’ll probably know that there are many people who are openly complaining about the books recommended on BookTok and how poorly they are written. I feel the same way. Every time I open a more recent book (Printed within the last five years) I am shocked by the ludicrous amount of grammar problems and other problems that are completely unheard of when it comes to publishing books. Publishing books is expensive so to find books with so many flaws is shocking to me. Back when I was in high school, certain teachers would be hard on my poor spelling due to my reading and writing problems. Just because I had them didn’t mean I shouldn’t find a way to work around them. If it means carrying a dictionary with me, then do it. I believe if they saw these books turned in as completed assignments, they’d have a fit.

And that is what I don’t understand. I hated high school, but some of my teachers weren’t mean about expecting me to be better at spelling. They knew there would come a day when I would need to know the proper way to spell a word so I can catch myself whenever I make a mistake. This is why I appreciate their expectations for me and why I try to aim for better.  Yet, book publishers, which are notoriously hard to get the attention of, are not doing this themselves?! I know having a teacher set the bar so high you cannot reach it could make or break you (That’s why I say some of my teachers) but why do I need to expect poor editing from books I’m spending money on? I would much rather do something else with my money than to buy a book that is below the quality level I expect.

Right now I am so fed up with books. I don’t want to buy any other books until I’m sure I will like them. If that means I won’t be able to read them for a few years, so be it. I’m fine with it. Plus, it will give me time to go through all my books, read or reread them, and decide if they need to have a place in my library.

That’s all for now! Thank you for reading!