Every year, I seem to find myself in a reading rut at least once. This usually happens when I've exhausted my current reading obsession—having devoured everything ever written by an author I've been fixating on. Once there’s nothing left by that author to read, I go into a sort of mini-mourning period, and I can’t seem to conjure the enthusiasm for anything else.
Sometimes the only way to cure my reading rut, is to explore alternative reading worlds. I’ve listed five different worlds that usually reignite my enthusiasm for the written word. You might enjoy exploring those worlds too.
Webtoon: The Alternative Reading World for the Digital Age
Webtoon is a digital platform for reading and publishing comics, originating from South Korea. Starting in the early 2000s, Webtoon rapidly gained worldwide popularity and has over 85 million monthly active users worldwide, making it the largest (and I think, most exciting) platform of its kind. Webtoon as had estimated annual turnover of US$1 billion, driven by a combination of in-app purchases, advertising revenue and partnerships with other media companies for adaptation into TV series, films and more traditional books.
Even more exciting is Webtoon's role as a talent incubator for young creators. By offering an easy and cost-effective way to self-publish, it provides a widely accessible platform for emerging artists to reach a global audience. Many careers have been launched through Webtoon, with numerous creators gaining substantial followings and opportunities.
Webtoon has also become a rich source of inspiration for TV dramas and films, with many successful adaptations bringing webcomic stories to a broader audience and further elevating the careers of the original creators. Basic access to Webtoon is free, and you can find it here.
Fan Fiction: An Alternative Reading World for Fans
Fan fiction is a labour of love – where fans create original stories using characters, settings, and plotlines from existing works, such as books, movies, TV shows, and even video games. It allows fans to explore new narratives and delve deeper into the worlds they love, often reimagining events, relationships, and character backstories.
The most famous platforms, such as Archive of Our Own (AO3) and Wattpad have become popular hubs for fan fiction writers, offering spaces where these stories can be shared and enjoyed by millions.
Fan fiction is always provided for free – and often serves as a springboard for aspiring writers to build careers. Probably the most famous piece of fan fiction, and my personal favourite, is the work All The Young Dudes, by MsKingBean89. All the Young Dudes is an epic 530,000 words long and explores the world of Harry Potter – starting in 1971 and exploring the lives of Harry Potter’s parents and their friends – this is the most extraordinary work – full of beautiful detail.
If you miss the world of Harry Potter, you can get lost into the immersive world created by MsKingBean89. I would even go so far as to say that I think that in many respects, All the Young Dudes is even better than the original Harry Potter series, in that it’s darker, more realistic, and shows in more detail the cross over between the muggle and magical worlds. I know there is a lot of criticism that this work isn’t canon compliant…and yes, James Potter is a lot nicer in this work than JK Rowling’s writings suggest – but I don’t care. All the Young Dudes is an extraordinary work of fan fiction and will get any fan of fantasy and/or dark academia out of any kind of reading rut.
Best of all it’s free – you can find it here.
Letters: An Alternative Reading World for the Nosy
For some reason, reading letters of famous people is often seen as quite highbrow reading—but I can assure you it’s anything but. I’m a very curious (nosy) person…I like to know what’s going on, and reading other people’s personal letters is the ultimate way to indulge that curiosity. It’s like peeking into a private world and discovering the real, unfiltered side of history’s most intriguing figures.
One of my favourite collection of letters is that of Mozart. I don’t really read letters in chronological order – I just tend to dip in where my fancy takes me. It’s so much fun to read about the fact that Mozart had to teach music, just like any other struggling musician, to make ends meet. He often writes to his father that he’s still waiting to be paid - another problem contemporary musicians can sympathise with. I also enjoy reading Mozart’s assurances to his father that he is quite a serious person even though he does like to be merry. It’s quite funny what you come across when reading letters, and it’s a low pressure way to dip into something quite wonderful. If you’d like to dip into Mozart’s letters, you can find them here.
Poetry Anthologies by Unpublished Poets: An Alternative Reading World for Dreamers
I recently spoke with a publishing insider who claimed that British publishing is dead. By that, she meant that mainstream publishers in the UK only back projects they know will sell well. This leaves many new and unconventional voices unheard. For those in a reading rut, exploring self-published works can be so rewarding.
Self-published poetry, in particular, is a treasure trove. Sometimes you find something utterly excruciating – and sometimes you find something very special – talent that isn’t available through traditional routes. Platforms like Amazon are a great way to start looking for independently published works, but I’ve found that independent publishing events (often to be founding on listing sites such as Eventbrite) can be a goldmine of unique talent.
I discovered the talented Taiwanese poet Northida Lee at Oxford’s Indie Book Fair earlier in the year. Lee, who identifies as queer and neurodivergent, released his anthology (not so) dead name in February 2024. It's a beautiful collection, with poems like the title piece, providing profound, unique insights – a point of view I wouldn’t have access to any other way. Self-published anthologies, like Lee’s, are often labours of love, beautifully crafted, and make excellent gifts for literary friends. You can get Lee’s anthology for £5 by contacting him directly on X @northida_l.
Classics Newly Translated by Women: An Alternative Reading World for the Practical
It might be a bit odd to include classical texts in a blog post about alternative reading worlds – there’s nothing more traditional than a classical text. Traditionally, translations of classic texts have been dominated by (white) male translators – reflecting broader societal structures that have historically excluded women, or at best, marginalised their contributions.
This traditionally male-centric approach (often with colonial undertones), not only shaped how these texts were translated but reinforced a narrow, gender-biased point of view. Quite often, modern readers find it difficult to connect with these translations, without a lot of elite education.
Now, however, the field is changing and new translations of classical texts, by women, are bringing fresh and nuanced interpretations to well-known stories. These new translations really are a joy to read – they feel modern and provide a framework for a new experience with the text. One of the most famous of the new breed is Emily Wilson’s translation of The Odyssey – it’s actually really fun to read; something about the translation uncovers some quite funny aspects (at least for me). Although Odysseys is traditionally the hero, in Wilson’s translation, it’s so much clearer that Athena pretty much paves the way for Odysseys. Wherever Odysseus goes, he seems to get bathed, and feasted. After the fall of Troy – he starts his journey back home to Ithaca but takes absolutely ages – 10 years in fact. Modern scholarship estimates that with favourable winds and relatively calm seas – the journey could theoretically have been completed in a couple of months.
I know it’s not exactly the point – but I always think that it’s a spectacular example of failing up – losing your entire crew, taking 10 years to get home because of distractions despite having a powerful goddess basically leading you by the hand, and being feasted and feted along the way….yet, still being celebrated as the hero. If Odysseus was a women, there would be the never ending jokes about taking ages to get anywhere....The real hero from my reading of the new translation is Athena, for her endless patience, and Odysseus’ wife, Penelope, and son, Telemachus, – for holding the hearth and home together (just) for 10 long years – while Odysseus was doing anything but coming home. New perspectives can be so much fun!
You can find Emily Wilson’s translation here.
All anime images except the Webtoon images ©️ Catherine Flutsch. Webtoon Images ©️ Crispy Shallot -used with her generous permission.
Comentarios