17 May,2026 09:46 AM IST | Mumbai | Tanisha Banerjee
Representation pic
There's something about summer that makes me romanticise reading again. Maybe it's the slower afternoons, the holiday mood, or the idea of sitting by a window with a book and an iced coffee like we're in a coming-of-age movie. But if you've been stuck in a reader's slump for months, even opening a book can feel overwhelming.
I've been there too. I've stared at the same page for days, carried the same unfinished book around for months, and felt guilty every time someone asked, "So what are you reading these days?" The good news is that getting out of that drudgery doesn't require forcing yourself through a 500-page classic. I did it too and you know what, it was quite easy.
One thing that genuinely helped me was creating tiny visual reminders of the kind of reader I wanted to become again. I made Pinterest boards filled with annotated books, cosy libraries, dog-eared paperbacks, and people reading on trains. It sounds silly, but surrounding myself with literary imagery made reading feel exciting again instead of intimidating. Suddenly, books stopped feeling like unfinished chores and started looking comforting. I also started leaving books around my room instead of stacking them away - one on the bedside table. One near my bag. One on the desk. Being visually surrounded by literature subtly nudged me back toward reading without pressure.
This genuinely changed everything for me. Instead of scrolling through social media during travel time, I started carrying a smaller book with me everywhere. Local trains, cabs, waiting rooms, coffee shops - all those in-between moments became reading moments. Audiobooks helped too, especially on days when my attention span felt completely broken. Listening to stories during walks or commutes reminded me that consuming literature doesn't always have to look traditional.
One mistake people make while trying to get out of a slump is picking "serious" books to prove they're reading again. This is something I did, and learnt my mistake the hard way. Read books that are fun. Dramatic. Fast-paced. Read thrillers, romance novels, - anything that keeps you turning pages. I started with Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky. Well.
One of the easiest tricks I tried was telling myself to read just one chapter a day. That's it. Not fifty pages. Most of the time, once I started, I ended up reading more anyway. But on days when I didn't, one chapter still felt manageable enough to maintain the habit. In reality, consistency matters more than intensity. Even ten minutes before sleeping counts.
You're not going to be graded on it. You read slowly and then feel bad about reading slowly. You abandon a book halfway and convince yourself you've failed somehow. Soon, opening a book comes with pressure attached to it. I had to consciously stop measuring my reading productivity. Not every book has to be finished immediately. Not every reading session needs to last hours. Sometimes reading five pages is enough. The thing that helped most was giving myself permission to read casually again. No goals. No Goodreads pressure. Ironically, the moment I stopped forcing myself, I started reading more.
At some point, reading became performative online. People track how many books they read in a month, curate aesthetic shelves, and post perfectly highlighted pages. While that can be inspiring, it can also make reading feel competitive. What helped me was making reading private again. I stopped worrying about whether the book was impressive enough. I stopped tracking every title. I just focused on how a book made me feel. And honestly, that's what summer reading should feel. You don't need to become a "reader" overnight.
1) Verity by Colleen Hoover
Recommended by Aastha Atray Banan, Editor, Sunday mid-day
It's a racy, saucy, trashy thriller which will catch you off guard. It's so bad, that it's actually quite good. You will be hooked and reading it late into the night, and wondering, "Hey, Verity, what the hell are you doing?" The movie, starring Anne Hathaway, is coming out soon so it's a good time to catch up.
2) Yellowface by RF Kuang
Recommended by Akshita Maheshwari, Features writer, Sunday mid-day
No one can take you out of a reading rut better than Korean writers. Yellowface by RF Kuang is about competition, obsession, and the race to success. The plot revolves around a white author, June Hayward, who steals and publishes the unpublished manuscript of her deceased Asian-American rival, Athena Liu. The novel tracks June's mental breakdown as she gets possessed by the ghost of Athena. This writer finished the book in the span of two days, as it is un-put-down-able.
3) The Many Lives of Syeda X by Neha Dixit
Recommended by Arpika Bhosale, Deputy Assistant Editor, Sunday mid-day
I love that this book from the humanises a labourer. The story follows Syeda who does multiple odd jobs from shelling almonds, to making tea strainers. I was reading a very heavy book and it got a bit overwhelming. So I picked up this one. I like this one for telling a serious story like this with a good pace and a certain lightness.
