|
I like books, and there was a time in my life where I actually read them. These days, and by these days, I mean a fair number of years now, I haven't been able to get myself to read much of anything, let alone a full book. Yet, I keep buying them, hoping one day my ADD and procrastination will subside. Apparently, there's a term in Japanese for my affliction- Tsundoku. I have a handful of books I bought within the last year that I literally piled next to be on my bed, but it always seems like I'm either too distracted, or to tired to read them before I go to sleep. I don't want to live like this. I want to actually read some drat books. Does anyone have any advice on how I can get myself to actually start reading some of my book collection?
|
#
?
Jun 2, 2020 04:35
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 29, 2024 17:10 |
|
|
Get an ereader app for your phone. Any time you're waiting somewhere or in some situation where you'd normally just randomly look at poo poo on your phone, read an ebook. Worked very well for me. Abandon the physical, embrace the ephemeral nature of the literary experience.
|
|
#
?
Jun 2, 2020 05:47
|
|
|
My advice would be the exact opposite. It's too easy to get distracted on a phone. Physical books or a non-tablet e-reader like a Paperwhite are better for making yourself read, because all you can do with them is read. I say just take a book you want to read and remove the distractions. If you want to read in bed then leave the phone across the room and put the TV remote in the other room and whatnot. Make anything other than reading take extra steps.
|
|
#
?
Jun 2, 2020 09:03
|
|
|
Khizan posted:My advice would be the exact opposite. It's too easy to get distracted on a phone. Physical books or a non-tablet e-reader like a Paperwhite are better for making yourself read, because all you can do with them is read. I feel like I know what this post is about, but the core content, and how it relates to the OP is lost a little on me. Being at home frequently makes reading more difficult for me. The last decade or so the vast majority of the reading I've accomplished is at work, on break. Sometimes, especially when I'm in the home stretch of the book, I'll bring it home with me over a weekend or something and finish it so I can bring a new one to read on break. At certain points in my life keeping a book in the car has been a lifesaver. While rush hour traffic is hard to condone the sort of attention split reading suggests, I've had appreciable progress in longer drive through lines, pumping gas, arriving entirely too early to a job interview, etc. Just my two cents. Good luck getting started reading your books shadowvine. I think it's important to consider how technology is changing our everyday lives. I'm a dead tree reader myself, but if it takes digital readers to read I can't object. Whatever it takes to get you reading, I think it's valid.
|
|
#
?
Jun 2, 2020 10:01
|
|
|
Khizan posted:My advice would be the exact opposite. It's too easy to get distracted on a phone. Physical books or a non-tablet e-reader like a Paperwhite are better for making yourself read, because all you can do with them is read. I found that these kinds of changes were good for me to change how I read. If I left my phone in my room and read elsewhere, I absorb much more while I read than if I have anything else I can check on me. I read paper and ebooks pretty interchangeably (I live in the middle of nowhere). Maybe a piece of advice thats another angle is try a couple books. When I'm in a rut and keep dropping books, it's often because they are more challenging than I want to deal with at the time. I'll try something small or very accessible to kickstart me. Every now and then you'll hit the perfect book that'll suck you in and that usually gets me going for more afterwards.
|
|
#
?
Jun 2, 2020 11:47
|
|
|
and don't forget reading is about enjoying a book not feeling any kind of pressure to have to do anything (unless it's assigned reading for school)
|
|
#
?
Jun 2, 2020 11:49
|
|
|
Read really short books and work your way back up. Stuff in the range of 100-120 pages that you can get through in one short-ish sitting. Finishing the whole thing should be a much more motivating target than getting through an arbitrary number of pages or reading for an arbitrary length of time.
|
|
#
?
Jun 2, 2020 23:09
|
|
|
Sham bam bamina! posted:Read really short books and work your way back up. Stuff in the range of 100-120 pages that you can get through in one short-ish sitting. Finishing the whole thing should be a much more motivating target than getting through an arbitrary number of pages or reading for an arbitrary length of time. This guy's got it. If you read short stories you'll probably find that you do in fact still love reading.
|
|
#
?
Jun 3, 2020 02:22
|
|
|
Wanted By Weed posted:This guy's got it. If you read short stories you'll probably find that you do in fact still love reading. I love reading but I've hated short stories for as long as I can remember 
|
|
#
?
Jun 3, 2020 02:28
|
|
|
rear end-penny posted:I feel like I know what this post is about, but the core content, and how it relates to the OP is lost a little on me. Being at home frequently makes reading more difficult for me. The last decade or so the vast majority of the reading I've accomplished is at work, on break. Sometimes, especially when I'm in the home stretch of the book, I'll bring it home with me over a weekend or something and finish it so I can bring a new one to read on break. At certain points in my life keeping a book in the car has been a lifesaver. While rush hour traffic is hard to condone the sort of attention split reading suggests, I've had appreciable progress in longer drive through lines, pumping gas, arriving entirely too early to a job interview, etc. Just my two cents. What I got from his question was less "How do I make the time to read?" and more "How do I make myself spend my time on reading instead of on other things?" All the things you mentioned are great ways to get more reading time, and I do most of those myself, but they don't help me spend that time reading as opposed to loving around on my phone. What really helps me sit down and read a book, as opposed to loving around on the forums or whatnot, is to set aside some time for reading and then take steps to make reading the most convenient option I have. I'm less likely to put my book down and gently caress around on my phone if my phone isn't next to the bed at night. That kind of thing.
|
|
#
?
Jun 3, 2020 06:27
|
|
|
Audiobooks! While you're working on regaining your ability to get through a printed novel, try audiobooks. It's astonishing how much time there is in a day where you can get some listening done: driving, mindless chores, any time where you're stuck doing something that doesn't fully engage your brain is perfect for listening to an audiobook.
|
|
#
?
Jun 3, 2020 17:43
|
|
|
3D Megadoodoo posted:I love reading but I've hated short stories for as long as I can remember lol same here. I respect a lot of them but I think too many classes spent tearing apart shorts from the canon killed my enjoyment of anything shorter than a novella (and even then, except for The Body, I can't think of many novellas I'd recommend to a non-reader). Re: reading - my suggestion is to take the range of advice here and find out what works best for you. Experimenting can be part of the fun, because once you find your own thing (or your variations on the things suggested in this thread), it's something you can claim as yours, and that makes you want to do it more. The times I've been able to instill a new habit have been the times I've taken advice but figured out the details and personal best practices on my own. Like the pride in figuring it out made me want to keep doing it, and by the time the pride was gone, I had the habit.
|
|
#
?
Jun 4, 2020 18:21
|
|
|
If you get a book from the library that inherent countdown clock of having to return it can be pretty inspiring
|
|
#
?
Nov 22, 2020 06:03
|
|
|
OP have you tried short stories? I have a few collections of them in the genres I like, and when I feel like I'm not in the mood for a longer story across multiple reading sessions I pull a collection up and read the next story in it. when a collection ends, I get another one to replace it.
|
|
#
?
Nov 27, 2020 04:01
|
|
|
I had problems finishing books before I joined a book club. When other people expected me to read a book, I finished books. You may end up reading books you have no particular interest in sometimes but I feel a lot more literate now.
|
|
#
?
Nov 27, 2020 08:32
|
|
|
Make it easy for yourself. Get a kindle, keep it in your pocket, and when you're in an elevator or waiting on whatever, whip it out. Past that, yeah, join our book of the month club =)
|
|
#
?
Nov 28, 2020 16:17
|
|
|
So I like books, I would always buy paperbacks but never read them. Same with ebooks. I'd buy them, read maybe a chapter on my phone and then never read it again. Then I bought a Paperwhite and I actually enjoy reading again and am reading about a chapter a night. I really reccomend people buy a paperwhite if you're in a similiar situation. It might jsut be the new tech toy thing of "I want to use this and get my moneys worth" but hot drat does it make e-reading so so so so muc hbetter.
|
|
#
?
Nov 29, 2020 02:03
|
|
|
Empress Brosephine posted:So I like books, I would always buy paperbacks but never read them. Same with ebooks. I'd buy them, read maybe a chapter on my phone and then never read it again. My guess is that it's because the only thing the Paperwhite does is read books. When I'm on my phone my attention has a lot of competition. General internet stuff, the forums, Discord, checking email, etc, etc. There's lots of things I do on my phone, and the same goes for my iPad. The Kindle just reads books, so there's nothing to distract from reading.
|
|
#
?
Nov 29, 2020 05:27
|
|
|
https://twitter.com/alloy_dr/status/1332820055579652096?s=20 https://twitter.com/alloy_dr/status/1332710186214182912?s=20
|
|
#
?
Nov 29, 2020 18:41
|
|
|
Audiobooks are a game changer as I get older and blinder. I can read as I cook, drive, work etc. I think my listening time on the audible app is almost 2 months solid since I picked them up in 2017. I think the amount of music I listen to has suffered significantly though.
|
|
#
?
Aug 7, 2022 21:27
|
|
|
Audiobooks don't get you to read because listening and reading aren't the same thing.
|
|
#
?
Aug 8, 2022 08:41
|
|
|
As someone who has a long commute and a 10 month old child, audiobooks are amazing. It’s really nice to be able to slip back into a book while doing the dumb mundane poo poo like driving or prepping lunches or washing dishes. I’d never have time to go through books without them.
|
|
#
?
Aug 8, 2022 13:06
|
|
|
I have trouble with audio books because I generally have a hard time with briefly losing concentration constantly. When I read a book, for example, I frequently read sentences/paragraphs multiple times in a row, just because I'll realize that I forgot what I just read. It's hard to explain. Not like ADD, but more like it takes energy to keep my mind active and it's default state is to revert to complete nothingness, so I'll read a sentence on autopilot and realize that I didn't actually process it. With audio I can't easily go over the same passage multiple times like that. (This is also an issue when conversing with people, and I'm just lucky enough to have a job where most important communication can be in writing.) The same thing actually also happens when writing; I probably looked at every sentence in this post at least three times, because I can't remember exactly what I wrote in the preceding sentences and want to make sure that it's still coherent. It's weird now that I'm typing it out like this, but I'm so used to it that I don't notice and just do it automatically.
|
|
#
?
Aug 9, 2022 01:47
|
|
|
I find I get the most pleasure out of reading when I'm able to be absorbed into the book for at least thirty minutes, because otherwise it feels like watching a movie in ten minute chunks at random times over the course of a month. When I've been out of practice on reading for a while, it also helps me to start with easier novels that I can burn through in a couple sittings, like Michael Crichton or Stephen King, because they get me back into the mood of reading, and it lights the desire. One of my favorite things in the world is when a book's got such a grip on you that all you want to do in your spare time is read it, so reminding myself of that feeling is a great way to get the momentum going again.
|
|
#
?
Aug 10, 2022 19:42
|
|
|
It takes 20-30 minutes to ride the bus to or fro. work, and since I've made the same trip basically since 2004 every weekday it feels like an hour. But when I read on the bus it feels like an instant.
|
|
#
?
Aug 10, 2022 19:47
|
|
|
I really don't know what to tell you op. I've never had a problem reading unless I thought the book was boring. In fact I probably read too much, like I caught up on a ten billion page web serial this week and i think I literally spent like 50 hours awake laying in bed reading it in my phone lol. Anyway I definitely like reading on my phone more maybe try that or a Kindle or something.
|
|
#
?
Aug 11, 2022 18:53
|
|
|
Wait this thread is old as gently caress lol
|
|
#
?
Aug 11, 2022 18:54
|
|
|
Some tips that have worked for me: 1. Have multiple books going. I find a combination of multiple nonfiction books and one fiction book works. Often when I don’t want to read, I actually just want to read something else. It’s ok to not finish a book if you’re not enjoying it. 2. Use technology to your advantage. I find ebooks helpful. More helpful are audiobooks. I use Libby which allows me access to 18,000 audio books and way more ebooks through my local library for free. I find going for an hour walk while listening to nonfiction very helpful for remembering things because I have a location memory attached to the book memory. The two week loan period also adds just enough pressure for me to make finishing a priority, especially when something else I want to read is coming up. 3. Ramp up. I was out of practice and had to rebuild my focus. I find an hour the sweet spot for making progress through books and fitting into my schedule. Some days, I can hit multiple hour chunks. With audiobooks, it can be way more. With that said, some days I have too much going on and I’m not going to read as much. If I’ve put in 15 minutes and I can’t get into it, I move on try again later.
|
|
#
?
Aug 13, 2022 13:02
|
|
|
I know this is an old thread but I recently came out of a years-long non-reading slump myself so this isn't a problem unique to the OP and I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't unusual at all. One thing that worked for me was realizing that style is more important than substance when it comes to reading for pleasure. If a writer is using a style that my brain doesn't process well for whatever reason, then it doesn't matter how incredible the story or characters or setting or ideas are, I'm going to encounter this exact problem: Ytlaya posted:When I read a book, for example, I frequently read sentences/paragraphs multiple times in a row, just because I'll realize that I forgot what I just read. It's hard to explain. Not like ADD, but more like it takes energy to keep my mind active and it's default state is to revert to complete nothingness, so I'll read a sentence on autopilot and realize that I didn't actually process it. A few months ago I picked up a book by José Saramago who, even in translation, has a style that many people might find super weird and annoying: long run on sentences, dialogue separated only by commas and no quotes or speech tags in single long paragraphs, stuff like that. If you'd have asked me before I read it, I would have said it sounds awful and no thank you I would not like to read it! But I zipped through the whole thing very quickly, no re-reading due to wandering thoughts, absolutely loved it, and read a few more of his books. Since then I've experimented with a few different things and I've found that something doesn't have to be written quite so peculiarly for me to enjoy it, but the closer something is to the sort of expected literary style of the English-speaking world, the more I struggle with it. I got 2 chapters into Catch-22 before I felt like it was just physically hurting my brain, but I've been flying through Knausgård's autofiction and loving it even though it's about absolutely nothing that I thought I would care about if you'd asked me before. I suspect everyone is going to have very different things that worked for them. In my case, I found that the style of writing that I actually like is almost the opposite of the style of writing that I thought I liked. I like lots of digressions, because I get bored with any storyline no matter how good it is, and it's nice to think about something else for a while. I like non-linear narrative, it's fine, we'll get back to the timeline eventually, there are some shiny objects over here. I like to feel the presence of the author in the writing even if they're not explicitly the narrator, hello there, you are telling me a story, that's cool. So I'd say, if you're in a slump, try some stuff that you wouldn't think to try otherwise. I don't think the specific authors/books matter (I just used the ones that worked for me as examples) so much as getting to things that are well written but otherwise very different from what you've been slogging through before. Vienna Circlejerk fucked around with this message at 17:20 on Aug 13, 2022 |
|
#
?
Aug 13, 2022 16:50
|
|
|
Kindles are great and super convenient. Imo the paperwhite feels just as good for the eyes as a regularly book
|
|
#
?
Aug 14, 2022 14:10
|
|
|
Ytlaya posted:I have trouble with audio books because I generally have a hard time with briefly losing concentration constantly. I turn the playback to x0.9 or x0.8 depending on the narrator and I’ll often use the “back 30 seconds” button - this seems to resolve most of my issues here.
|
|
#
?
Aug 16, 2022 12:22
|
|
|
Ytlaya posted:I have trouble with audio books because I generally have a hard time with briefly losing concentration constantly. I’m the same way, and it drives me nuts sometimes. I have lifelong ADD, stopped reading for 10 or so years after high school due to working like a slave, and now I’m getting back into it again. But I don’t remember the distraction/attention deficit being this pronounced back in the day; I guess I need to read full-time in order to absorb information better? I’ve been eating non-inflammatory foods for the brain and it’s helped a lot. I still love reading even though I have to reread paragraphs multiple times to understand what is being conveyed more than I’d like to. A good examination on modern society’s collective attention deficit in the last 20 or so years — and how to overcome it — is detailed in Hari’s book Stolen Focus: Why you can’t pay attention — and how to think deeply again. It’s really dope and it made me feel like I wasn’t alone with this problem or going insane.
|
|
#
?
Aug 17, 2022 23:33
|
|
|
I'm also easily distracted, so when I want to do something I have to create the time and space for it in advance. So this is my suggestion: Go to the library, on a Saturday or whenever you don't have work. Go to a section with something you think you'd like. Pick a book, preferably a short one, find a comfortable chair, and read. Do not look at your phone. In fact, put your phone on silent and then stuff it in your purse or backpack. You'll read for a few hours without realizing it. Then you can either check the book out or just leave it there and come back next week. Schedule these visits, every week or every two weeks, or however much you have time for. But make it regular.
|
|
#
?
Aug 18, 2022 20:38
|
|
|
Good thread, could often use some reading inspiration. Been trying to remember to make this more of a habit. I've got so many books collected in paperback, so I haven't made the jump to digital as of yet. It can occasionally be a drawback, if I'm not near an area with good lighting etc. But hey there's always the sun. Just grabbed a book, will make an effort to read some of it today.
|
|
#
?
Aug 27, 2022 22:13
|
|
|
Heavy Metal posted:I've got so many books collected in paperback, so I haven't made the jump to digital as of yet. It can occasionally be a drawback, if I'm not near an area with good lighting etc. But hey there's always the sun. Just grabbed a book, will make an effort to read some of it today. One thing that really struck me after I got back into reading heavily is just how lovely mass market paperbacks are. I’d been checking stuff out of the library and most of it was hard bound or at least soft back on acid free paper, but then I pulled an old paperback off my shelf and I was just miserable reading it. Yellow pages and small, crappy print, and it wasn’t even that old! If you find yourself struggling with lighting and don’t want to shell out for an ereader, hit your local library if it’s not too far, even for a book you already have because they might have a nice hard bound or lay flat binding version with nice print. It’s really much more enjoyable. I don’t think I’ll ever buy mass market paperbacks again.
|
|
#
?
Aug 27, 2022 23:12
|
|
|
Right on, cool to hear everybody's experience. I like lightweight books since they're easy to hold right up to your head without bending your neck down much etc. But good to know. Some of my paperbacks are those kinda floppy slightly bigger nicer ones from recent years. I mostly buy used, but I tend to aim for a more recent-ish printing. Same with comics, I'm the oddball who likes less issues per collection and softcover. That said I agree some mass market paperbacks are too small and stiff for me too. On e-readers, the price of the thingy itself is cool, but rebuying those books would be tough. I do have a library card, but it's just easier to have a copy, especially since my reading volume is pretty low for novels. And I already collected over 100 I wanna read. Was a fun hobby checking out used book stores a couple years ago, now I have stacks all over. But, for some titles I guess it could be kinda like buying DVD and then the blu-ray. But it is annoying that it'd be Amazon...  I've gotta finish at least 10 of these, or I'm gonna bring great shame upon my house.
|
|
#
?
Aug 28, 2022 00:39
|
|
|
There are definitely good e-readers not by Amazon. I recommend Kobo if you want the integrated store experience, or Pocketbook if you want to get more involved in your own e-library (like, buying from lots of different sources, removing DRM amd making your own backups, etc.) You usually see at least one Kobo e-reader in every "Best E-Readers" list or article.
|
|
#
?
Aug 31, 2022 00:50
|
|
|
It's funny, I actually prefer older paperbacks specifically because the text is smaller and denser. It drives me crazy when I go to pick up a book hold at the library and it's a copy where the text is printed like this with great big margins and what could have been a hundred page book is now a massive floppy tome of prose printed like a bad self- published poetry collection. The ones that really drive me crazy are the weirdly tall, thin paperbacks, because they're hard to read with one hand (topheavy but also the page to spine ratio is off so it doesn't hold itself open like a proportionally wider copy does).
|
|
#
?
Sep 1, 2022 17:00
|
|
|
the worst thing about ebooks is when something's off in the formatting and it doesn't look quite like every other book because you totally get used to that not being a thing and it's all you can see when something stands out
|
|
#
?
Sep 1, 2022 17:27
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 29, 2024 17:10 |
|
|
Don't try to dive into Tolstoy or Melville right off the bat. Start with something you enjoy, even if it's a guilty pleasure. Maybe re-read a favorite from your past, give it a look with a newer perspective. And learn to read in small, tiny doses! Fifteen minute break at work? Get a few pages in. Also there's nothing wrong with audiobooks. They're great. And remember, getting started is the hardest part.Magic Hate Ball posted:It's funny, I actually prefer older paperbacks specifically because the text is smaller and denser. It drives me crazy when I go to pick up a book hold at the library and it's a copy where the text is This poo poo reminds me of when I was trying to stretch a college paper from 7 pages to 10. Sours me on the author / publisher.
|
|
#
?
Sep 3, 2022 03:17
|
|
