Help!! I can’t seem to get into anything.

[Nearlyadoctor]

I’ve always read lots my whole life - but the past 6 months I cannot seem to get into anything much less remember what happened when I read the night before. I keep starting books and giving up which I’ve never done, It’s definitely a menopausal thing!
What I need is something easy, that captures my imagination. The only book I’ve read recently that managed it was Adam Kay - This is going to hurt. Nothing seems to hold my attention or it seems too complicated to remember the plot etc.

Any ideas ?

Don't know the answer either. I set myself a modest reading challenge for the year and I've only managed to scrape through one really short book since May. I'm trying to read stuff that's not "best sellery" but just can't settle to read, even if they're good. Have had real reading jags in the past.

You could try a book group of some sort (online even?) but you often have to push to read and it's not pleasurable

I am having concentration issues, was a voracious reader in the past

The only books to get through the fog this year so far are

Tracy Chevalier - Falling Angels

Rev Richard Coles - Fathomless Riches

I’ve just started The Trouble with Goats and Sheep which looks good.

Also, as you’ve mentioned a medical slant, I wonder if Atul Gawande might be of interest? I’ve only read Better, but it was very good. I also attended a talk and he was great.

Someone on MN recommended to me in similar circumstances a Gentleman in Moscow. Omg, it was wonderful, I can’t rate it highly enough.

I’ve just realised how funny my penultimate sentence was 😂

Try The great Wide Open - Douglas Kennedy, or The Wife - Meg Wolitzer

I am definitely going to try that Amor Towles book gentleman in Moscow, loved his Rules of Civility, thanks for recommending

Anything by Douglas Kennedy, and goats and sheep is beautiful

Bill Bryson? I thought I'd read all his books but recently discovered Down Under - funny, eye opening and easy to dip in and out.

If you're finding non fiction better then Unnatural Causes by Dr Richard Shepherd is good. He was a forensic pathologist and dealt with some major cases including Hungerford and Princess Diana.

while MN are tidying stuff up, I hope this ends up in a more sensible place
I often think no one will find "what we are reading" as it's such a bonkers title!

That Unnatural Causes looks good, thanks.
I've put "goats and sheep" on hold because I finally got "Once upon a river" from the library and I suspect they will want that back quickly!

I just read all of Liane Moriarty (she wrote Big Little Lies) and my book club read another of hers.
I enjoyed them-easy and sun beddy reads.
For something a bit more Alll the light I cannot see was fantastic, and loved both Little fires everywhere and everything i never told you.
I have gentlemen in moscow on my bedside table and am excited for it!

Try Tuesday with Morrie. Such a beautiful true story. Easy read and not long at all.

I remember when it changed @RosaWaiting . It had been "fiction" iirc as opposed to "children's books" and it was changed to "what we are reading" because there was nowhere for non fiction

Re-read a book you love to help you "get back into" reading?

Be really ruthless about finding something that grips you. If you aren't loving a book just move on to another - you can always come back to a book once you're back in the way of reading again.

Perhaps read something like short stories or something very episodic like This Is Going To Hurt eg Confessions of a GP, the Secret Barrister, It's Your Time You're Wasting etc

Completely agree with Thelma about Unnatural Causes, particularly since you said you enjoyed Adam Kaye. I think it's the first book I've read since This Is Going to Hurt that I've enjoyed as much, it really was excellent

I third ‘Unnatural Causes’. Brilliant book.

I've just finished Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty and thoroughly enjoyed it. It's an easy read but I did find it quite poignant in part, and towards the end genuinely laugh out loud funny.

Try this: Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata. It's short, weird and funny - set in a supermarket in Japan. I read it after a couple of slightly disappointing novels and couldn't put it down. Even odder, it's published in a choice of different coloured covers (blue, pink, yellow) - no idea why!

I had this problem this year, just couldn't get into anything, even audiobooks. I eventually got past it by reading His Bloody Project and am now just about to finish I Capture The Castle. Both wonderful and engrossing in different ways. And both recommended by the knowledgeable posters on this board!

I picked up This Is Going To Hurt in a charity shop yesterday, think I will read that next.