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?
  • Treczoks@lemmy.world
    3·
    12 days ago

    I read for work and fun.

    I like a number of different genres, historical novels, fantasy, SciFi, thriller, and many more. No crimes or romances, and biographies are a waste of paper 99% of the time.

    I’m married with adult kids, and having a family and work curbs my reading time.

    I started reading digital books a few decades ago, and have roughly the same amount of real and digital books, both in the five digits range.

    I’m a fast reader. As a kid, I read a few novels a day. All libraries within bike range knew me, and I rarely needed a library pass. I still read faster than others, and I switched to reading English books (English is not my native language) to intentionally cut down my reading speed to 100 to 200 pages per hour. I currently proof read and edit English books for fun.