Background:
I’m in my 40s and I’ve always sort of beaten myself up over not being an avid reader. I go through phases where I read a bunch, sometimes I’ll finish a book in a months time, sometimes start a book and forget it, sometimes it seems like I go literally years without really getting into any book at all. But I still accumulate them.
Because of how important reading is and now I “fail” to prioritize it, I’ve always found myself in a poor relationship with reading. I feel this artificial pressure to read things that are only important and will somehow make me more useful. I feel this artificial pressure to start one book and read it to the end. I feel this artificial pressure to become a changed person by fully investing every bit of info from every book.
I’ve been learning that these pressures are untenable.
I’ve also noticed that I partake in all kinds of things without the same expectations: tv shows, games, podcasts, media and news outlets, social media, etc.
Right now I have 6 books that I am actively reading, and I am trying to remember that it’s for enjoyment and not some high level goal. Someone told me if I read 10 pages a day I would finish about 10 books a year. I found this so encouraging.
Taking the pressure off of reading has really helped me get more productive at reading, and I think it will help me convert my habit into a truly fruitful one.
So now I ask you:
- What are your reading habits like?
- What do you like to read?
- What kind of stage of life are you in, and how does that affect it?
- Have you made any changes, positive or negative, to your reading habits?
- What else?
I love books
My biggest recommendation is to avoid asking for recommendations online, particularly in reading - centric communities.
People love to pretend their favourite books are classical just through sheer pretentiousness
The most genuine people you’ll find in life are the ones that are perfectly happy to admit they fucking love a trashy thriller
Ive never been able to physically read books, I end up getting bored, reading the same page over and over etc I just can’t concentrate on it long enough and as such always thought I didn’t really like books.
Then I discovered audiobooks around 10 years ago.
Now I get through probably 100 plus books each year and fucking love it. I always listen to books at work whilst doing stuff like setting up machines, I’ll listen to them whilst doing chores, or working on my bike or any other kind of task like that.
If I’m not enjoying a book after around half an hour or so I’ll just drop it and move on unless it is something I really want to get into but as ive got older I apply this mindset to a lot more things and find in general it makes things a lot more enjoyable than trying to force stuff I’m not enjoying.
I mainly read fantasy and horror and never read to learn or anything like that, it is purely for enjoyment!
Do you ever use librivox? There are a few specific readers I found there that are great for me to fall asleep to.
Who are your favourite readers on librivox? (If you feel comfortable sharing)
Moira Fogarty and Ruth Golding
Librevox was actually where my journey into reading began so yes, ive used it extensively.
It is a great resource for sure but also some readers I absolutely could not stand and would stop listening based on how they read or the way they pronounced stuff that annoyed me. Conversely there are some absolutely great readers on there as well.
This is how I found hat kinds of stories / genres I liked in the first place by just going through their library and listening to random stuff. Finding authors I liked and then bingeing everything I could find of theirs.
I started my journey off with Lovecraft and Edgar Rice Burroughs on there and still go back sometimes and listen to the recordings people have made for librevox. I have a special place in my heart for the caspak trilogy as they were the first books I ever really got into!
For me getting an alarm clock made a difference. Because that nullified my brains weak excuse that I needed my phone by my bed “for an alarm”. No I didn’t. People have woken up perfectly reliably for years before smartphones. So I got an alarm clock. And that made it easier to turn going to bed into calm reading time instead of doom scrolling (by leaving my phone charging in other room). And that’s made a big difference, not only to quality of reading but also general mood.
Wow! That’s it, tomorrow I’m buying an alarm clock! Reading your comment made me realize how unhealthy it is to doom scroll myself to sleep! Thanks for the wake up!
Lately I have been trying to notice my doom scrolling actually using it as a cue to convert that energy into reading something I’m interested in.
I’m trying to quit scrolling like I quit smoking decades ago: with intentional anger for being controlled and then redirection.
I read a shitload of manga so I try to balance it with a book every once and a while
I read on the toilet, on the bus, while doing dishes. I read while falling asleep at night and whenever I have five minutes alone during the day. I read three or more books at a time, so when I’m not in the mood for one there’s two more options to engage with.
But that’s me.
You’ll read a lot more if you give yourself permission to read things you enjoy. Maybe start with some Terry Pratchett.
Almost 40, comfortably established with no kids, so life is overall pretty easy.
I got into audiobooks on Libby and have gotten through about 400 in the last 4 years. I listen while I’m driving and sometimes while doing chores, but mostly I listen while hiking or paddling - on a weekend backpacking trip I can get through 3-5 books.
My books are almost all what I would call “human adjacent non-fiction” - science and information related to people and the planet, but I don’t find deep science like quantum physics relatable enough to be interesting.
I love to read and learn and wish more people wanted to talk about books, but book people and outdoor people don’t overlap that much.
- My reading habits are like everyone of my hobbies, I obsessed for a week then move on to a new pursuit then come back to reading several months later.
- I read text books about Aztec history.
- I’m a year away from 40 and I’m coming to terms with being alone for the rest of my life (which is exactly the same leading up to this point).
- I bought a book stand I can adjust and wheel around.
- Stop caring what other people think and just read when you feel like it. You’re overthinking this.
Being with someone has its perks, but honestly it’s way to over rated.
I read in bursts really I can go weeks/months without then go through 6 or 7 books in a week. I’ve always been a very fast reader and if something interests me enough to give it a look I tend to read the entire series at once.
I think the biggest factor for me is if it grabs my interest or not quickly if something doesn’t I don’t try and force it just wait for the next thing that might.
I finish maybe 5 books a year. The library makes it so there’s a “deadline”, that helps.
I also don’t mind picking up a book, and returning it after a few chapters if I realise I don’t like it.
It shouldn’t feel like a chore.
Utilizing the library is a good idea, I should really do they more. I know in the US they need our support too.
I use my local library from my phone with the Libby app. I don’t know if this benefits them as much as going there in person does. I did go there to get a library card though, you need one to sign up in the app.
But they have a great catalog of ebooks that I can borrow from, I’ve read the bulk of The Dresden Files that way recently and I’m about to finish it if the last two books ever come off reservation.
I read books for personal enjoyment, basically never for learning or self-improvement or anything like that. I only ever read one book at a time and mostly in the evening before going to sleep.
I’m in my early thirties. My reading speed varies quite a lot based on the book and my mood, but I’ve definitely noticed that I’ve become “worse” at reading in recent years. Too many digital distractions I guess. That said, if I do manage to read for 2 hours before going to sleep, I sleep so much better than if I watch a movie or doomscroll on Lemmy or whatever.
I mostly read sci-fi and fantasy, sometimes historical novels. I think this year I’ve finished 4 books so far, and dropped one quarter-way through. There were definitely years where I’ve managed way more.
if I watch a movie or doomscroll on Lemmy
Are you telling me we really made Lemmy that good to be as
goodbad as Reddit? 🤯
Mostly audiobooks, 2x speed, a lot of hours a day. I do use an ereader sometimes. I’ve started collecting (just regular hardcover, mostly) physical copies of some of my favorites, but I don’t really read them like that. When possible I read entire series from beginning to end consecutively. Audiobooks and visual reading are generally different books.
Mostly mystery, in a wide variety of settings, tones, levels of intensity, but some pure fantasy. Nonfiction is mostly psychology, but some science, other stuff as well. (180 new books this year), but I re-read as much as I read new. I don’t set goals or anything, just use the “goal” to see the number each year out of curiosity.
Mid-30s, IDK. I read a bunch as a kid, then stopped the habit through high school and college and took a while to get back into heavy reading.
I read every day, before bedtime, and in bed. I can’t fall asleep without reading something. This has been a lifelong habit. I still also study techie books for my career. I pretty much self trained foir that by reading books.
Mostly non-fiction. History, music criticism and artist bios, current science. Been reading anarchist literature recently.
I am old, 65. It has affected my reading habits, but not completely; I have fewer commitments, more time on my hands.
Is this positive? I have quit automatically picking up the tablet and reading when I wake at 2 am, and try to go back to sleep again.
I am very picky about what I enjoy. I suggest you try lots of genres, types of books, find something you enjoy. If that’s graphic novels, enjoy that: if it helps associate reading with fun instead of being a task, great.
I read when I have time and when I feel like it, these days it takes a while.
I just read because I enjoy it. Around 20-30 per year. This year it’s looking out to be around 25. I wouldn’t read if I didn’t like doing it. I don’t think it makes much sense to force yourself into it. Sometimes I read historical stuff but usually it’s fiction of some sort. Historical fiction, fantasy, scifi. I’m a student so I suppose that helps.
What helped me read more was getting an e-reader. It’s just so much more pleasant than regular books and the selection is much larger.
I really love reading. When little, my mom said I read my way through the kids section in the library in like a year then moved on to the grownup side.
But then I had kids, and read magazines, short stories, and comics because I didn’t have uninterrupted time.
Now, when I do have a book I read it while husband is watching TV, we both have entertainment time that way. If we go to the beach I bring the e-reader, and read on days off - still a lot of comics as I’m still busy, and I love them, but more library books than when the kids were kids.
You don’t have to read books if you don’t enjoy them! Everyone is different. I read really fast and effortlessly (learned to at the same time I was learning to speak, it’s a language not a skill for me) so it’s a better pace for me personally than other forms of entertainment.
But of my kids, fewer than half read for pleasure. There are so many other ways to use your time that are just as good for you or better.
