Whipple Cures the Book Slump



'Wet Winter Evening and a Book Lover in Bloomsbury' from the Persephone Post

I had a book slump last weekend. Don't you hate having one of those? It doesn't matter that I have 99 books on my TBR pile. Yes, you read right. 99 books. (Thank god for Library Thing for helping me keep track).

I'm sure you know the feeling. I picked up several books at random and I quit after a few pages. Nothing seemed to satisfy me. I even picked up old favourites but soon abandoned them. Do you want to know what I really felt like reading? A Lord Peter Wimsey mystery by Dorothy Sayers. However, the few copies I own seem to have (Poof!) magically disappeared. Don't you hate it when that happens? I then glanced over my shelves and spied a Persephone book by Dorothy Whipple that I haven't read, The Closed Door and Other Stories. I've actually had this since May of this year. I've hesitated picking it up because it's a short story collection and I'm definitely not a fan of those. Well there was certainly no time like the present so I read one story on Monday, The Closed Door. Its 75 pages long and though it's not the best Whipple, it's still a Whipple and definitely worth reading if you're a fan.

The Closed Door is about a daughter who lives with her stifling and controlling parents and feels powerless to break free and live her own life. As always Dorothy's....oops I mean Whipple's writing is absorbing and so readable. I almost wrote Dorothy there because she surprisingly feels like an old friend. After reading a number of her books, her writing is so familiar that it's so easy to just sink right in.



There are a total of ten stories in the book and I'm controlling myself from reading the rest. I think I'll save them for when I have another reading slump. Whipple is clearly the best cure for them.

Have you ever had a book slump? Can you recommend a good book to cure it?

Comments

  1. Love that photo! Whenever I have a book slump, something light or funny helps a lot. How about a holiday book? Wally Lamb's new Wishin and Hopin is funny.

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  2. As you will have seen I was bordering on a reading slump but with Book Group tomorrow night and having not started it before yesterday I had to press on, and its done the trick and forced me through the issue. Normally I got for an M.C Beeton mystery or Tess Gerritsen.

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  3. I had a series of reading slumps in 2008. Wodehouse was the cure for me. I have wanted to try Whipple but did not get a chance to this year, so I chose her for a challenge in 2010. I am looking forward to it.

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  4. Dorothy can cure any ill! I love those stories, they're all beautiful. You're in for a treat with those stored up!

    I can't say I really get book slumps...but when I feel a bit uninspired I usually reach for a Victorian classic. They always entertain me!

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  5. Oh boy, do I ever know about book slumps! I've been experiencing one of my own for a few weeks, and so I can sympathize with how dreadful they are. Alas, I haven't any tried and tested books that will kick you out of such ruts, as normally when they strike I simply don't want to read anything at all! I'm glad to hear that the Whipple worked for you!

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  6. This is going on my wish list - immediately! Dorothy Whipple was one of my favorite author discoveries this year.

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  7. I have also been in a slump for a few weeks-who can explain? But I read Thou Art That by Joseph Campbell and am out of it now.

    That IS a great picture!

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  8. @diane - I've never read Wally Lamb but something funny is always good.

    @savidgereads - a mystery is always a good choice to get over a book slump. Never heard of M.C. Beeton.

    @Rachel - Victorian classics usually work but it didn't this time.

    @book psmith - I agree Wodehouse is great for reading blocks! You're going to love Whipple.

    @MDeniseC - Never heard of Joseph Campbell. I'll look it up. Thanks!

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  9. I love that picture. I have Whipple in my TBR, but haven't started it yet.

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  10. Curiously enough, my book slumps are cured by reading short stories. Maybe because I don't have to be as committed, so I'm more open and it is a quicker fix.

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  11. I am a bit behind and am now only just catching up on blogs. Whipple is on my list to try in the near future, from what everyone says she is a reliable choice. Starting the new Terry Pratchett novel cured my last slump, I know he may not be to everyone's taste but it certainly worked for me, I couldn't stop once I sarted, before that I had picked up book after book, reading a few pages then abandoning it to be left feeling guilty.

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  12. I just ended a slump with a collection of short stories by Carson McCullers. The very book that began my slump only months before. I don't get it...

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