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So back in the day when I was younger (10 years ago I'd say) I used to be a good reader. Would read 2 books a month sometimes 1 book a week. Nowadays, I am pretty much addicted to the internet after I get off work. By 7 p.m. I will google, YouTube, Instagram etc. I feel I am wasting my life...though I do watch interesting documentaries on the internet. Anyway, I have a stack of books in my apartment I want to get back to reading in the evening. Any advice? How did you get break the addiction or get back to reading?
So back in the day when I was younger (10 years ago I'd say) I used to be a good reader. Would read 2 books a month sometimes 1 book a week. Nowadays, I am pretty much addicted to the internet after I get off work. By 7 p.m. I will google, YouTube, Instagram etc. I feel I am wasting my life...though I do watch interesting documentaries on the internet. Anyway, I have a stack of books in my apartment I want to get back to reading in the evening. Any advice? How did you get break the addiction or get back to reading?
I know you asked specifically about evenings, but I had the same problem, stacks of wonderful books that I never got around to reading because I was too busy watching TV and DVDs. So I decided to make a resolution that I would read for 30 minutes every morning instead, as I had my morning coffee or tea. I actually set a timer. Since I began doing this earlier this year I have been amazed at how many pages I can read in half an hour, and I have read many good books. Now I actually look forward to my morning quiet time with my books. If 30 minutes is too long, maybe start with just 15 or so.
It would take some commitment, but as an alternative you could try going to bed a half hour earlier and reading during that time.
Scheduling reading time is good. Start with some brain dead fiction that is just pulpy fun. Then move into stuff that explores the documentaries that interest you the most.
Also, make a list of books you want to read. Don't pressure yourself. Just take your time. You just need to find your groove and let your brain remember how happy it made you.
Also, I have books loaded on my smartphone. Whenever I'm out and unexpectedly waiting, I start reading. NOthing intellectually grueling, just fun reads.
My roommate (just moved out) always had her "sh***ing books that she would keep in the bathroom for those extended visits. I think over the course of a year she got through a biography of Teddy Roosevelt that way. LOL.
Read something that will better yourself for other people. Read something that makes you smarter or an overall better person for others.
Thats what I did
But a good way to do what you want to do is to join a Book Club. There should be a club attached to your local book store or library. If they don't suit, then continue looking until you find a club where you are comfortable. Then, commit to reading the current book, and to making good comments during discussion times.
You do not have to be a member of this book club for the rest of your life, but you could continue as long as it remains interesting for you.
And, keep a book journal. Make an entry for each book you read. Some people respond well to challenges or goals. If you are one of those, set a goal to read a book a month. After one year, you will have read 12 books you had never read before.
If a new book does not hold your interest after 50 pages you have permission to bail, and try a different book.
Consider your reading time a gift to yourself. Make yourself a cup of tea or coffee, or set aside a treat you like, to accompany your reading time.
And consider listening to a book while driving. There are several ways to do this.
When you get home, take your devices into another room far away from where you hang out all evening and plug them into recharge.
find something else to do besides staring into your phone. It can be cooking, reading, fixing something in the house, talking to friends...
Soon the ditching of the device will become a habit and you will go back to the hobbies that aren't a total waste of your life.
If you don't have the willpower to take the devices in another room to recharge, they do sell those boxes with timers on them that don't allow you access to them until the time is up.
Break the HABIT...sadly you are not alone. I feel a sadness for the younger people and the tech addiction they are victims of...I have two older grandkids and I see it. Recognizing it is the first step. Do it. Make the tech stuff second or third in your life.
I think you have to understand why you are not reading. I used to read a lot. And I have a couple of authors I read regardless. But I am having some real issues with today's books. There are styles I just hate. Every one was going crazy over a book that I picked up, got 20 pages in, realized it was an unreliable narrator and I stopped. Didn't help that every character was an awful ghastly person.
Unfortunately, it proved so popular, all the writers jumped on the bandwagon and started writing that way. Yuck.
So I've dipped my toes in to science fiction, biography, non fiction. But I really love mysteries. Nothing has grabbed my fancy. I like a certain amount of realism, and when the guy does something he can't do legally...I'm out. I've even tried to read older stuff, but PBS has one of ruined Agatha Christie, by bastardising her books...I remember the program and put down the book....
Sooner or later the worm will turn and book writing will morph again. I don't think a seven year lapse will kill me.
Last edited by Tallysmom; 09-08-2017 at 08:01 PM..
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