Every now and again I finish a book. Most of the time, I get passed a prologue and maybe one or two chapters, and cannot stand going on. I use to read a lot more for leisure than I do now, and most of what I read now is not for leisure.
I can’t really decide if I just hate reading now, even though I use to love it, or if I’m just trying to read the wrong things. I pick books that more or less seem like they should be interesting to me, but I have such a hard time becoming immersed. These are also books that seem like good choices because many people love the books and praise the author. Like, I should enjoy Neil Gaiman, right? He’s got a lot of really profound things to say and he is lauded as one of the best contemporary authors. But I can’t get into American Gods — I’ve tried a few times!
So what is the consequence of knowing I hate reading, rather than what I’m trying to read? Well, knowing the difference would help me decide if I really should try to force myself to plow through a book or not. If it is that I have come to hate reading, maybe if I force myself to do it more often, I will eventually rediscover my spark and recover my ability to read comprehensively and quickly. However, if the problem is the books I’m trying to read, maybe I need to toss these books and look farther afield for what I like?
by Oosteocyte
4 Comments
I recommend finding a good page turner, easy read. For me if I’m in a reading slump I may pick up a murder mystery for example, they are easy to read and get me hooked.
If you force yourself to slog through things you’re not enjoying, you’re taking time from discovering what you do like. Neil is a nice person by all accounts and I’m sure he’d rather you spent your precious time sampling until you found a book to love.
Personally, I’ve found little use in forcing myself to continue a book that I’m not enjoying. Reading is odd in the way that we can put so much pressure on a hobby that we ostensibly want to relax and enrich us. I found myself overthinking the act of reading itself and no longer enjoying it thoroughly, even if I did finish a book.
This improved when I stopped seeing it as a personal failure to enjoy something that I ought to. Instead, I assumed the book simply wasn’t for me, and looked for the next one. Moving quickly from book to book guilt-free has brought back the joy. That I end up finishing more books in total because of that joy is a nice extra.
Honestly I find my best reads are when I find books at a bookstore and don’t look up any reviews and don’t have any expectations going in. I think the pressure of trying to read hyped up books makes me end up liking them less because I feel the weight of everyone’s expectations on me as I’m reading it. Second tip is to stop immediately if you’re not liking something, no need to force yourself to finish a book just because others like it.