As I’ve just de-lurked in the Valley of the Shadow thread, I’ll just chime in here to say that in a similar situation – same advisor, actually, say hi for me – not too long ago, I had a similar experience adjusting to the reading. I mean, I’d read a lot the year prior to grad school, but the jump was still huge. I remember thinking I might read ahead during the summer and then realizing that if I read 6-8 books, which seemed like a lot, it would cover only 3-4 weeks or coursework. At that point I decided to read books, leisurely, that wouldn’t be assigned.

Anyway, it took a while but I found my interest in reading for pleasure came back – and before orals, too. Though I did become a Netflix subscriber along the way (in those pre-Hulu days). Orals studying is certainly another jump, but personally I found the first year to be the bigger adjustment.