Lost between books

This is kinda what the inside of my brain looks like
right now...a big see of books that don't interest me.

I'm in a restless state between novels right now, and it's really uncomfortable. You know that feeling when you finish a really good one and don't know what to do next? I needed a couple days to process the book I finished last week (Everything I Never Told You, by Celeste Ng), but then suddenly found myself without a Next Book.

It doesn't happen often (I usually have 4-5 books going at once, all different genres and types), but every now and again I get stuck in this drift. Nothing really interests me enough to invest money and time in. So. Weird. I've spent way too much time over the weekend downloading samples to my Kindle, reading reviews on Goodreads, and perusing the library reading lists. Me without a book is like a guitarist without her guitar or a soccer player without a field to run on. I just feel a bit lost, even irritable. I'm just wandering in the snow, slogging through the slush, wavering in the wind...

I'm joking, of course. Mostly.

Honey posits I have too many novels on my shelves and feel overwhelmed. Maybe. While there's definitely a kernel of truth to this (I do own a lot of books, but there's no such thing as "too many"...is there?), the larger part of the equation is that I'm drawn to heavy-duty, super-serious books. Struggle, pain, loss, racism, sexism, anxiety, fear -- these are the themes that run through the books I generally read, the books that fill our bookshelves. And right now, I'm just not in the right headspace for anything too heavy.

But the books that friends have recommended as "happy books" don't interest me either. I read 10 first chapters over the weekend and couldn't settle into a single one. What a snob! But if the writing doesn't wow me, I just can't stick with it. (I'm an editor, after all, and you just can't turn that off.)

I'm having trouble focusing in general; it's been a busy, anxious month, and though I've had some downtime, my brain doesn't click to "read and relax" mode as easily as I'd like it to. I might just need to switch up the kinds of books I read. Maybe I need some meaty historical narrative nonfiction or juicy biography, or a classic western or high fantasy novel.
If you have any recommendations for well-written books that don't dwell in despair, especially if they're written by women authors (it's Women's History Month, after all), I'm all ears. I don't need something that's uproariously funny, but humor would be welcome. Lightness without being sloppy or schlocky. A grabby piece of narrative nonfiction could work, too. (I can update this Google doc for all of us to reference for reading ideas.) I just need something I can escape into for a little while.

I have more perspective today on the struggle to get my kids to sit with a book. It hurts my heart to have children who'd rather do just about anything else than read -- but their brains are busy, too. How do they get through the day without a story pulling at the back of their minds? Do they feel this type of restlessness when their teachers say "grab your book and read"? We may need to create more time without distractions. For all of us.

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This month I'm attempting to blog every day (even though I've already missed a few) with the Slice of Life Challenge. Read more about it here and follow the hashtag #SOL18 on social media for more beautiful slices.