Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week’s topic is Books Guaranteed to Put an End to Your Book Slump, with the prompt: Which books would you recommend to someone dealing with the dreaded book slump? No book is grabbing their attention or making them excited to sit down and read and they are suffering for it.
Of course, no one book is going to work for everyone — but here are ten that grabbed me right from the start and never let me go, which is just what we all need when a slump hits.
1. The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal: This story of women astronauts is set during an accelerated space race after a meteor strike changes the future of life on Earth. It’s gripping and fascinating, and the characters are unforgettable. (review)
2. Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree: Sometimes, all you need is a bit of cozy fantasy and great coffee! This book is understated and charming. (review)
3. The Husbands by Holly Gramazio: One of the strangest concepts for a novel, and it’s amazing! (review)
4. When the Moon Hits Your Eye by John Scalzi: Outright silliness can be the perfect antidote to a slump… and what’s sillier than a book about the moon turning to cheese? (review)
5. Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V. E. Schwab: A tense, layered vampire story that spans centuries — I couldn’t put it down. (review)
6. Weyward by Emilia Hart: I loved everything about this beautifully written witchy tale. (review)
7. Every Summer After by Carley Fortune: A gorgeous romance with a beautiful setting and complicated characters. Prepare to be swept away to a sunny summer lake! (review)
8. Vera Wong’s Guide to Snooping (on a Dead Man) by Jesse Q. Sutanto: More silliness! And so much fun. (review)
9. Kills Well With Others by Deanna Raybourn: A group of older women approaching retirement from life as assassins — unique and funny. (review)
10. The Guncle by Steven Rowley: This book’s lighthearted surface hides deeper emotions and beautiful connections. Lovely, and also lots of fun. (review)
What books would you recommend to break a reading slump?
If you wrote a TTT list, please share your link!
Bookshelf Fantasies 
Oh…Legends & Lattes! What a good choice. I loved that book. Kills Well With Others was one that did get me out of a slump. Such a fun read. Love your list! 😀
I’m really looking forward to the new Travis Baldree — his books are such comfort food!
Great selection! I loved Kills Well With Others and I can’t wait to get to Schwab’s newest.
Both are great… but very different! 🙂
I’m in a long library line for the Carley Fortune..I’ll probably get it next summer! I DNFed Husbands! Fun prompt this week!
Oh, too bad about The Husbands! Not for everyone, I guess 🙂 Good luck with your Carley Fortune hold!
I just lost interest after the first few! 😂
The Guncle does look cute.
I ended up going with the audiobook version, and it was delightful.
Interesting to see how some books that put you out of a reading slump, nearly put me in one.
My TTT: https://laurieisreading.com/2025/08/12/top-ten-tuesday-books-to-diversify-your-reading-1/
OK, now I have to know which ones!! 🙂
Guncle is a great one!! I loved that book. Legend and Lattes is another that I adored and it would be great for a slump.
Awesome — I don’t think I’ve come across too many people who’ve read The Guncle! So glad to meet someone else who appreciates it!
Yes, I agree. It’s such an underrated book and I’m surprised I don’t see it around more.
I love how varied your list is! Two of those made my list today, too: The Calculating Stars and Legends and Lattes. Of the others, at least a few are on my TBR list: Kills Well With Others and When the Moon Hits Your Eye are on the TBR list, and The Guncle and Weyward are on my “maybe someday” list.
Nice to see how our tastes align! The Calculating Stars is one that I recommend to people whenever I can — I really couldn’t put it down.
This reminds me that I need to pick up the next Vera Wong book, the first was so good!
The 2nd one is just as good!!
What a fun list! I love seeing Weyward here, and Legends and Lattes is another good choice😁
Thanks! I loved both of those!
This is a brilliant list and there should be something on here to bring anyone out of a reading slump
Thank you!
I am intrigued by ‘Husbands’ and I want to read ‘Every Summer After’. Thanks for this list.
https://rosieamber.wordpress.com/
Both books are terrific!
Baldree’s books are just delightful. 🙂
I completely agree — can’t wait for the next one!
Great list, I can see how a fun read could pull people out of slumps and I adored Bones too. I’m also very intrigued by The Hudbands as it sounds like such an unusual concept. I think it’s impossible to see the premise and not find yourself intrigued.
I’ve definitely never read anything quite like The Husbands!
Vera Wong has been a popular choice this week and, no wonder, it’s a great book! I loved it and still need to read the sequel. I also want to read the Raybourn series. I love her Veronica Speedwell books. Great list!
Happy TTT (on a Wednesday)!
Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com
Ah, I love the Veronica Speedwell books! Even more so than the killer books, but those are definitely fun.
I’m so excited for that V. E. Schwab book.
I loved it so much that I had to buy myself a hardcover once I finished reading it as a library book!