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?
  • theherk@lemmy.world
    1·
    1 month ago

    I have always enjoyed reading, but for the first 40 years of my life I just didn’t do much of it. It felt like a slog; difficult to focus and stick with it, though I always felt gratified when competing a story.

    Then I discovered audiobooks. Something about the way my brain and lifestyle are, it just works. I read tons of books now. All fiction. I’m not crazy.

    I love it. One the walk to work or bus rides I listen constantly. I take several hour walks in the mountains and listen the whole time.

    This year I read The Expanse Series, Dune (Frank’s), Snow Crash, The Bobiverse, and part of another trip around The Wheel of Time. Audiobooks bring me so much joy.