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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?
Sometimes I note down tv movies or subscription channel stories that were based on a book originally, and go read the book. Even the plots of serial programs can suggest a book. One example might be reading the books that Game of Thrones was based on. This way you can take advantage of content you saw and transfer it into reading. The web is an amazing source of things to read about so don't guilt yourself about that. Use it as a springboard to learning. I have a notepad next to my laptop where I jot down topics I mean to look up, and once I get going I often find books recommended. Bang....an interest turns into a topic to read. Whatever you do, don't load yourself up with books that all have to pass some bar of worthiness....what interests you doesn't have to be profound...it just has to intrigue you. Indulge in little pleasures....if you love fantasy (as I do), get a few dog eared paperbacks from used bookstores, curl up on the couch on a cold day with one, sail away to another planet. OK, yeah, I find it hard to pick the ones with the really garish cover art and try to sneak them out under a coat , but you get my drift.
I used to work at a small town library and was surprised by a progression of local ladies who would bring in romance novels by the grocery bag full every couple of weeks. They would literally sweep the next library shelf of similar books into the bag, disappear for two weeks, and bring them all back to exchange for the next shelf over and over. They often looked a little sheepish admitting they liked that genre, but then they would laugh and say how much they enjoyed reading the silly stories. And, that was the point....they exercised their skill, took time for themselves, laughed at the stupid human tricks, got taken to far away lands, and read everything they could get their hands on.
If the books piled on your table don't really intrigue you, give them to the library, don't stare at them and feel you are obligated to read them. You aren't.
Last edited by Parnassia; 09-08-2017 at 11:44 PM..
I suggest starting by re-reading books that you particularly liked. You can ease your way back by in reminding yourself of why you read before - and you can avoid excuses (I can sometimes use) with a new book like: "looks like it will get boring", "too many pages left", "YouTube has GOT to be better than this paragraph right now"...
Also, I know you say you have a lot of books right now, but going to a bookstore or library might kick-start you with a change of environment.
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.
That's why I stopped watching the PBS Christie shows after one or two. That's not her. And she's still one of my top mystery authors.
I suggest starting by re-reading books that you particularly liked. You can ease your way back by in reminding yourself of why you read before - and you can avoid excuses (I can sometimes use) with a new book like: "looks like it will get boring", "too many pages left", "YouTube has GOT to be better than this paragraph right now"...
Also, I know you say you have a lot of books right now, but going to a bookstore or library might kick-start you with a change of environment.
Beat me to it! Find a book you once loved, and get to know that old friend again. Enjoy!
That's why I stopped watching the PBS Christie shows after one or two. That's not her. And she's still one of my top mystery authors.
I really enjoyed them...and David Suchet embodied Poirot. So did my mom. I decided a few years back to reread from the beginning the Poirot mysteries, and found the ones from the 20's to be lackluster. But books from the 20's were kind of lackluster and florid.
I had a writing teacher who badgered the 50 cent words out of me. Don't waste your currency! Don't use a fancy word when a simple one would do....and yes, there were times when 50 cent word was the perfect word....and that's where you put it.
But...I also sort of lost my love of reading when I lost my mom. My concentration was shot while I was grieving. I also read fast. If a book grabs me, I can devour it in a few hours.
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 have the exact same problem. I'm still "reading" but it's all internet. (like now) In 2010 I was going to the library weekly and picking up 6+ books and finishing them. Weekly! I read every night and because I worked at home most of the time, I forced myself to take lunch and dinner breaks and read. Now I think I am a bit busier with work and my house and health.
I keep saying I have to read again. I loaded up my iPad and have done well with that. I found that I don't read reference material well on the iPad, for that I want a real book.
Recently I requested a reference book from the library. When I went to get it, I wandered around and found an unread book by a favorite author and brought it home. I finished it in less than a week.
I think that's a key for me - I have to find enjoyable books rather than the reference books I have been buying lately. There was a point in time I'd read books on computer networks for fun at night. That type of thing isn't so much fun anymore and I think the way my brain works and retains info has changed.
I've always loved to read, but found myself on the computer or watching tv instead of reading the past few years. I've started to take a book with me to work, and read while I'm on the train to and from work. I'm enjoying reading again, and it makes the travel time go by much faster.
I've always loved to read, but found myself on the computer or watching tv instead of reading the past few years. I've started to take a book with me to work, and read while I'm on the train to and from work. I'm enjoying reading again, and it makes the travel time go by much faster.
I was always an avid reader when I was younger and have a room full of books to prove it. In the last couple of decades I slowed down quite a bit, reading only an occasional book.
Last year I got a Kindle Fire and download a bunch of free books, old classics in the public domain mostly. I take the Kindle wherever I go that I know I will have to sit and wait for something. That's when I get a lot of reading done. I also read for a while before going to sleep.
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, but you get my drift.
