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?
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    2 months ago

    I will be 40 in February. I read daily. But what I read daily is this shit. Posts and comments. Memes and news articles. Maybe someone’s fanfic on Tumblr.

    Been getting into furry focused visual novels after getting bored and checking out Adastra since I had heard of it years ago and never actually played it, and I just haven’t been able to get enough of Howlie’s work since (finish The Smoke Room so you can get back on Khemia, please! 😩)

    I like sci-fi and romance. Adastra was both and has been the best fucking thing I’ve ever read.

    I haven’t read an honest to God book since Ready Player One initially came out.