So you’ve just finished the best book you’ve ever read. You’re already missing the world of the book, and you find yourself feeling sad and a little bit hollow now that the last page has come and gone. Depression creeps up on you and you find yourself wondering: “What do I do with my life now?”
What is happening to you? Why do you feel this way? Well, you have what is called a book hangover.
But what is a book hangover? And how can you cure it and get back to feeling like your old self? Read on to learn about book hangovers and find 11 tips to help you overcome one!
What is a Book Hangover?
A book hangover is a debilitating condition in which attachment to a particular book causes emotional distress or depression in the reader. While some bookworms recover quickly, others find themselves dealing with a book hangover that lasts weeks or even months—and there is no known cure that works in every case.
Usually, however, once another book of sufficient quality or excitement enters the reader’s life they make a full recovery.
What are the Signs of a Book Hangover?
While symptoms of a book hangover can vary from reader to reader, there are a few signs and symptoms to watch out for if you think you or someone you love might be experiencing a book hangover.
1. A hollow or empty feeling in your chest
2. Frequent sighing
3. Moderate to excessive crying
4. Bouts of anger (at the author for not writing more, or at people for not understanding your pain)
5. Staring blankly into space
6. Curling up in the fetal position (on a couch, bed, or—in severe cases—on the floor)
7. No interest in picking up another book, despite previous love of reading
8. A desire to sit and do nothing
9. Daydreaming about the characters or fictional world of the book
10. No idea what to do with yourself now
Are you or someone you love experiencing most or all of these symptoms? If so, you are likely suffering from a book hangover.
While book hangovers can vary in intensity from mild to severe, experiencing any of the above indicates that you are suffering from a book hangover and should seek immediate treatment.
How to Cure a Book Hangover
While there is no known treatment that can cure a book hangover in 100% of cases, there are several remedies you can try to treat a book hangover before it takes over your life. Here are some different ways you can try to cure a book hangover in any avid reader!
1. Take a Break From Reading
While this might seem counterintuitive, taking a break from reading could be just the treatment you need. Spending a little time in the real world before picking up your next book might help you readjust to real life and be ready to find a new book to enjoy when it presents itself.
The trick to this book hangover treatment is making sure you don’t spend too long taking a break from reading. A few days to a week should be plenty of time to mourn the beloved characters from your previous book and move on to reading another amazing book. If you find yourself wallowing in your reading break and having a hard time finding the motivation to read, then it is likely time to try some of the other book hangover remedies on this list.
2. Reread Your Favorite Parts of the Book
While you’ve closed the book on the fantastic book you’ve just finished reading, it may actually be time to open it again if you want to get over your book hangover.
Revisiting some of your favorite parts or your favorite things that happen in the book could help you put to rest the reading experience you’ve just gone through. And once you’ve properly appreciated the part of the story you love most, you might be ready to find another great book you will love!
3. Journal Your Thoughts in a Reading Journal
Another option once you’ve finished the final page of a book and found yourself with a book hangover is to journal your thoughts about the book in a reading journal.
If you don’t yet have a reading journal, you can learn how to start one here or you can just grab my free printable reading journal to get started. I like to make writing in my reading journal one of the first things I do after finishing a book, and it’s also beneficial because getting all your thoughts and feelings out onto a page can be such a cathartic way to help you process your last read!
And once you’ve processed your feelings about your last book, you’ll likely find yourself more quickly able to move on with your reading life.
4. Talk About the Book With A Friend
Talking about the book with a friend is something else you can try when you’ve found the perfect book that you just can’t move on from. Even better, of course, when this friend loves books as well…or has even read the book you want to vent about!
A great story is better when it’s shared, so whether you grab your IRL best friend, a bookish friend from social media, or join a book club, it’s sure to be freeing and exciting getting to chat about a book that has turned your life upside down. And when you talk with someone else about your favorite characters, the love story, central issues in the story, or even just the sheer emotional transportation you experienced you’re sure to find plenty of others in the book community who want to fangirl or fanboy with you!
5. Write a Review About the Book
If you still have more you want to say about the book or the fictional characters, then it’s time to try to cure your book hangover by writing a review about the book!
There are lots of different places to write reviews. You could write a review on the site you purchased the book from (like Barnes & Noble, Amazon, etc.), or you could write a blog post review or a review on your Bookstagram. But no matter where you choose, writing a review is one of the best ways to get over the book hangover phenomenon and is also such a great way to support the author and share how much you loved their book!
6. Read Other Books By the Same Author
If it was your first time reading a book by this author, or if they’ve written other books you haven’t yet read, then another hair of the dog cure you could try is to read more books by them. This is an easy way to find more books that you’ll likely enjoy reading, since you loved at least the one book by them already!
And of course if the book you read is only a single book in a full series, be sure to grab the other books or add them to your new releases list to read whenever they come out!
7. Read Fan Fiction
Reading fanfiction is something else you can try if you’re just not ready to let go of the main character or ready to say goodbye to the world of the book with the closing of the last page. If you felt this strongly about the book, it’s likely others felt the same way too and may have even written some good fanfiction already!
Harry Potter, books by Sarah J. Maas, Fourth Wing, and so many other popular books have received the fanfiction treatment, but you’ll definitely find lots of other less cult-favorite books on fanfiction sites as well. So if you loved the original book by the original author, there’s a good chance you can find something to get your fix with from a derivative work or fanfiction version of the book as well!
8. Read Other Books in the Same Genre
Another good thing to try to get over your book hangover would be to read other books from the same genre. So if you just finished a fantasy book series that you adored, try looking for other books in the fantasy genre that you could try reading!
Similarly, you could try to read other books in the same “mood”. So if you read and loved a really sad book, try searching for other similarly sad books to keep the same emotions going!
9. Read Books Other Fans Recommend
Book recommendations from other book nerds can also be a great way to jolt yourself out of a book hangover, particularly if the book lovers recommending books to you also loved the book you just read.
Word of mouth is such a great way to find more books you’ll love spending time reading and may even lose track of time reading, if you’re lucky! One of the amazing things about the Bookstagram and BookTok communities is that you have a whole host of book lovers ready to recommend new books that you might love. They’ve trained their entire lives for this, so if you find someone who likes the same type of books as you be sure to follow them to get more excellent book recommendations!
10. Reread an Old Favorite Book
Like when you’re in a reading slump, another old faithful way to get yourself reading again is to reread an old favorite book that you loved reading before. Sometimes we aren’t ready to start a new book because we don’t see how it could ever live up to the amazingness of the one we just read, so reading a book we’ve read before and know we already love can help us move through this end-of-book grieving process.
11. Visit a Local Bookstore
If all else fails, at least try to get yourself out of the house and take yourself on a visit to a local bookstore. Being surrounded by all the beautiful books might bring you back to life…and who knows? As you browse the shelves, you might just stumble across a new read that you’ll love…
There are just so many benefits of reading books that it would be a shame to spend a long time not reading at all, so hopefully these tips are able to help bring life back to your reading life. Good luck!