Every slump is different in its cause. They may be caused by life becoming overwhelming, or you just read the best book ever and don’t think you will ever find another book like it, or any number of things. Books are a great way to remove yourself from the overwhelming life you are facing, and I guarantee you will not find another book to compare to the one you just finished if you never pick up another book. So, let’s look at some books you will love that have a great story and great characters to help you deal with life and maybe that next great book you love.
Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames is a great place to start. It has great characters, hilarious dialogue, and a plot filled with dangerous monsters at every turn. Clay used to be in a band that traveled the lands killing monsters and saving people. Now he’s old with a family. Then one of his bandmates shows up at his house asking for help and to get the band back together. His daughter has gone to help in the war trying to follow in her Dad’s footsteps. After some coaxing, and a push from his wife and daughter, Clay is on a journey to collect the members of his band, and they embark on an epic journey filled with Rock n’ Roll references and hilarious exchanges. If you love this, then you can also continue the hilarity with the sequel Bloody Rose.
The Real Valkyrie by Nancy Marie Brown is a non-fiction book. If life has you down, this may be better left to slumps caused by other reasons. Nancy Marie Brown will have you challenging everything you’ve been taught or heard about Valkyries and Vikings. She does something I’ve never really seen in non-fiction books before and I wish my history textbooks had done this because I may have done better in those courses, but I digress; Nancy creates a story around one set of bones found and takes you through the life of that person she envisions. Then she backs up the story with facts. Full disclosure: I received a copy of this some time ago from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I am recommending it here because it did exactly what we are covering. This book pulled me out of a slump. I couldn’t wait to get off work each day to read more, and even better were the times my husband was out of the house as well and I could read mostly uninterrupted. I still had an attention-needy dog to contend with, but still have fond memories of reading this book.
If you love audiobooks, I can recommend A Blade So Black by L.L. McKinney. This is a YA Urban Fantasy and is an Alice in Wonderland retelling. Jeanette Illidge does a fantastic job narrating this story. I loved the twist to Alice in Wonderland taken by L.L. McKinney. You can still see the clear relation to the original fairy tale, but it’s also clearly different. I quickly became obsessed with this series and am looking forward to the third book, to be released in September of 2023.
Traitor’s Blade by Sebastien de Castell is the first book of The Great Coats quartet. I first heard about this book and series from Jade from Jadeyraereads on YouTube. She always spoke so highly of this series and was clearly obsessed with it. She usually reads YA and children’s books though, and this is an adult series. I decided to give it a try and loved it! Overall, the plot is a slow pace, but the mystery behind the events draws you in and you wonder. You want to keep reading to learn the answers. The King has been killed. He willingly turned himself over to the other leaders of the land. Ordered his Greatcoats to stand down and not fight when they arrived. He also met with each of his Greatcoats and gave each of them a mission. Now out in the world without a king to serve, they are each looking to succeed in their mission. Some have given up though. Others have been killed. How many of the Greatcoats are left?
The Lies of Locke Lahmora by Mark Lawrence is another great story. I read this now several years ago and enjoyed the story. I was excited to continue but the books of the trilogy are a bit long. I’m hoping to continue and get back to these characters again this year. Fair warning this is not a happy story. Things go so sideways for Locke. This is a story of a hard life, and doing anything to survive.