Hello, Reading books has been something that has caught my eye recently. But i don’t know how to do it? Its a stupid question, all throughout my life i was never really into reading books, in fact i kind of hated it, never read a book in my life except for student’s books for school. I tried reading a pretty popular fictional book a few weeks ago and i had to re-read the first page exactly 5 times before i grasped its meaning, before i could picture the scene in my head.Its as if the meaning just passes by me
And when i say “read” i mean really read it, like completely internalizing its contents. Granted it might be harder for someone who is extremely forgetful, neurodiverse w/mental illnesses
by Real-Complex-6135
14 Comments
Did you just blank out on 15 years of English & language arts classes?
Reading is a skill that requires practice. Just keep at it and you will get better.
It’s definitely a practice thing, the more you do it the easier it gets. I’d recommend finding a book that you genuinely are interested in reading. Either because it has a cool cover or a good description on the back. And just keep reading it until you get it. I also find that reading books out loud helps, when I am really trying to understand what I’m reading I’ll read it out loud
Reading comprehension is some respect natural, but it’s also largely developed. If you haven’t read a book in what might be decades and barely practiced it in school at that, you might find yourself struggling because you haven’t been exercising your brain in all that time. One option you could do is just take really simple, children-friendly books and start with those. Something like A Series of Unfortunate Events would be perfectly acceptable. Another option you could do is watch a film and then read its book to help you bridge that gap where you can go “Oh, this is *that* scene.”
In the end, you have to practice it to get better still and you may have to start simpler in order to get used to reading at all. It is also normal for mental disabilities to get in the way, but if you are aware of those issues, then you have to work on your coping/handling/circumnavigation in order to not let it stop you.
There’s actually a book on learning how to read books. It’s called ‘How to Read a Book’ by the educator Mortimer J. Adler. You should read it, because it explains you how to properly read a book. See it as one of your old school books from when you were a student.
As others have pointed out, reading is a skill that requires practice just as any skill does.
I would recommend starting with something slightly above your reading level (so whatever you can remember easily understanding from school) and start with that.
I do not recommend trying to understand the full scope of what you are reading at first. If you struggle with words and cannot get the meaning through context clues then sure, look them up. However; I think going out of your way to fully absorb a book instead of simply enjoying it will lead to burnout very quickly at this stage in your reading journey.
Hopefully his helps, and happy reading!
I think ‘completely internalizing its contents’ is not the right way to go about this. You do your best to try and read a book, and you do it for your own enjoyment- not to have a full and immaculate understanding of the book. Remember, books were created to be enjoyable!
What I suggest you do is make the task SO easy that you can’t not do it. Start by reading only 5 pages per day, that’s it. And if they were hard to understand- write down your thoughts! Put notes in the margins! Being an active reader can do wonders.
I would first start by looking for a book about something that interests you. Just because a book is popular doesn’t mean it’s for you or even that it’s a good book. You may have an easier time if you have a vested interest in the material.
What helped me get into books was reading the book while listening to the accompanying audiobook.
It helped with my immersion and understanding sentence structure.
Same way you write one, IMO. You just start, and keep going, and trust yourself to keep up.
tbh I usually just devour the pages out of my books. Oftentimes with ranch dressing. But if you decide to do this, don’t bother with front or back covers, because they tend to contain plastics or dyes that upset the stomach, plus there’s just not enough story there to justify it. Eating my literature might take a bit longer, but it’s my preferred method of reading.
>And when i say “read” i mean really read it, like completely internalizing its contents.
Focus more on experiencing the book, not comprehending it. Comprehension is a byproduct of a good imagination.
If you can’t read a book, try listening to it on audiobook.
Are we being punk’d?