I used short essays and short stories to get back into reading, maybe that approach would help you. They’re really old, but try A Modest Proposal or some of the satirical essays by Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens), they’re short and sweet and inspire a desire for more.
For me the amount is not a problem. I used to be an avid reader during my teens, I’ve read under two hundred books during that period, ranging from fiction to romance. The problem usually is that I’m bored reading them now. I’d prefer reading the entirety of GNU C Manual now because it feels more productive. But fret not, when I burn out of IT, quit and touch grass I will absolutely come back to reading my favorite stories, especially the one where a small mousy mouse fell in love with a scary kaiman and they lived happily ever after after surviving through hell together.
I read a ton as a kid too (probably averaged 3-5 books a week for many years), as an adult it’s hard to escape the cycle of wanting to feel productive but I’ve since tried my best to remember that reading for pleasure isn’t meant to be productive in the capitalist sense. It’s an investment in your own happiness, in my opinion, and that can be productive in other ways. Trying new genres or quick “summer reads” has helped me not get bored.
I mostly just don’t read much because I have other hobbies I like more and tend to watch a lot of video content and browse social media. I didn’t really do any of those things much as a teen, other than a bit of Facebook because everyone had it. For me it’s not the priority that it used to be, but I have a book server for easy access when I get the urge.
I find reading books quite meditative and I like the initial challenge of maintaining my concentration for the first 10 minutes or so before I can relax and sink into it a bit. I sympathise with everyone else struggling to read as much as an adult though, it was so much easier for me during childhood. Sometimes I feel a bit embarrassed about how little I read now given how advanced I was as a kid. It feels like I’ve been wasting a skill/hobby that could have provided me with a lot of happiness and growth as an adult.
I used short essays and short stories to get back into reading, maybe that approach would help you. They’re really old, but try A Modest Proposal or some of the satirical essays by Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens), they’re short and sweet and inspire a desire for more.
If you like reading older books, check out https://standardebooks.org/. They make nice digital editions of public domain works for free.
Nice, looks like a bit more care went into the visual presentation in comparison to Project Gutenberg. Thanks for sharing.
For me the amount is not a problem. I used to be an avid reader during my teens, I’ve read under two hundred books during that period, ranging from fiction to romance. The problem usually is that I’m bored reading them now. I’d prefer reading the entirety of GNU C Manual now because it feels more productive. But fret not, when I burn out of IT, quit and touch grass I will absolutely come back to reading my favorite stories, especially the one where a small mousy mouse fell in love with a scary kaiman and they lived happily ever after after surviving through hell together.
I read a ton as a kid too (probably averaged 3-5 books a week for many years), as an adult it’s hard to escape the cycle of wanting to feel productive but I’ve since tried my best to remember that reading for pleasure isn’t meant to be productive in the capitalist sense. It’s an investment in your own happiness, in my opinion, and that can be productive in other ways. Trying new genres or quick “summer reads” has helped me not get bored.
I mostly just don’t read much because I have other hobbies I like more and tend to watch a lot of video content and browse social media. I didn’t really do any of those things much as a teen, other than a bit of Facebook because everyone had it. For me it’s not the priority that it used to be, but I have a book server for easy access when I get the urge.
I find this profound. Might as well invest in my own happiness right now, it’s gonna be a long night anyways 😁
I find reading books quite meditative and I like the initial challenge of maintaining my concentration for the first 10 minutes or so before I can relax and sink into it a bit. I sympathise with everyone else struggling to read as much as an adult though, it was so much easier for me during childhood. Sometimes I feel a bit embarrassed about how little I read now given how advanced I was as a kid. It feels like I’ve been wasting a skill/hobby that could have provided me with a lot of happiness and growth as an adult.