---
title: "Reader's block"
url: https://perrotta.dev/2025/07/readers-block/
last_updated: 2025-07-23
---


You have probably heard of _writer's block_:

> a non-medical condition, primarily associated with writing, in which an author
> is either unable to produce new work or experiences a creative slowdown.

But have you heard of _reader's block_?[^1]

**Definition**: a condition wherein a reader is unable to start a new book for a
certain period upon finishing another book.

Once you reach the end of a good book, there are often two feelings you will
experience:

One is pure joy, a sense of accomplishment that feels oddly satisfying. It's an
addiction, part of the machinery of your brain rewarding circuitry that makes
you crave for more.

The other one? You know it already.

It takes a while to "recover" from a good book. It's as if the brain didn't want
to forget it too soon, needing some time to process and "engrave" it in your
mind.

[^1]: Probably not, because I am making it up.