How To Get Over Book-Hangovers
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Book hangovers. Yes-that's a thing. Depending on how cruel the author has been in dealing out their emotional trauma, book-hangovers generally happen after reading a book so good that it ends up taking residence in your day-to-day thoughts and doings. Symptoms, outside of the general lack of desire to read another book, include finding personality traits in friends/family in an effort to keep characters alive as long as humanly possible, thinking about how you would have changed the fate of your favorite (especially if they died like Fred Weasley which I'm still not over) and possibly writing fan-fiction about it. Daydreaming about earth-shattering plot twists, assimilating fictional phrase into your speech, and replaying the story in your head searching for clues that you missed which explain the choices characters made and possibly mourning the consequences are also included in the side-effect list of book-hangovers. One of the worst, however, has to be the sleep depraved fog you may find yourself in should you unwittingly partake of a book-reading binge lasting well into the wee hours of the morning. Worth it!
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So what can be done? How do you get over being the pleasure of being fictionally intoxicated? The first step in sobering up would be to sleep off the book-binge session. At least one good night of sleep will help you to collect your thoughts for the second step which is to allow yourself one day to be productively hungover! Go over details, relive two or three poignant moments, and if there is anything that could possibly have changed the way you look at the world think about how to apply it. Step three would be to find an outlet. Draw or paint a picture, go on a nature walk in an area that reminds you of the setting, watch the movie adaptation or a you-tube video on archery. Use play dough to make something that reminds you of the book if you have to. Be creative and find an outlet that works for you!
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The final step is to.... Read another book!! Just don't read the same type of book. I find that genre-jumping helps me a great deal in getting over a book-hangover. Jumping from fantasy to espionage/thriller will work a different part of your imaginative brain with the added benefit of not overshadowing the previous book and it's characters! This way you won't be cheating on them. Mind you, take care not to run through them too quickly or you will find yourself in the pitiable state of a compounded book-hangover. Been there, done that, bought the two tubs of ice cream (the good stuff, no bowls needed) and worked it off. Good luck and good reading! What methods do you employ for book-hangovers?
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~Bookleaf~
Thanks for reading! If you found the article enjoyable or helpful please feel free to share with other book lovers! I would love to hear any and all suggestions regarding book-hangovers as I find myself in this state quite often. Be sure to follow if you'd like to keep up with the book reviews I write, or you could just say hi! ;) I'd love to meet you!
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Oh man. This is helpful stuff. I just posted a few weeks ago (on Twitter) about spending an afternoon mourning the death of a person who never existed after finishing a novel. I could have used this post to help me move on. I especially love the idea of dealing with a book hangover productively. Thanks for this!
Sooo relatable. I ended up with a compounded one this last week so writing this post was my way of being productive with it. I'm glad I could at least help in future friend!
The let-down that comes when a story is over is a tough feeling to explain, yet you've taken us through it step-by-step and given the best possible remedy!
READ ANOTHER BOOK!
Not only read another one but read a different genre so that you can place yourself in a different frame of mind. Doing so definitely helps alleviate some of the sadness when finishing a great book.
Thanks! Genre jumping has greatly helped me move on from book to book but I think explaining a book hangover was easier to explain while actually having one!
Yes, that is true. I often experience this feeling when the end is nearing on a good movie.