How do you actually read? - eviltoast

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?
  • QDgwZjQYdfbnMdMNQ@lemmy.cafeEnglish
    1·
    1 month ago

    Well, it’s a bit late to be considered quick, but here’s some of my favorite series that I’ve read recently:

    • Firebrand by Quill - magic school story about a boy who lives in a Roman inspired setting. The story also extends a few books after his graduation from school, which I liked.
    • Mother of Learning by nobody103 - also takes place in a magic school, but in a very different setting. It’s also a time loop story and one of the best series I’ve ever read.
    • Ave Xia Rem Y by Mat Haz - pretty standard Xianxia story, but very well written. It’s still ongoing, but it’s older, so there’s a lot of free chapters already out and arcs finished.
    • Mage Errant by John Bierce - another magic school type story (evidently I really like those), with a really interesting magic system and world building. John Bierce also has a patreon with a bunch of short stories, which I enjoy, and all his books have a bunch of recommendations for other stories at the end, which I’ve used to find good stuff in the past.
    • Weirkey Chronicles by Sarah Lin - This story focuses a bit more of character development than I usually prefer, but the combat, characters, setting, and magic are all great. It has a unique take on cultivation, where your power is built as a “soulhome” inside your soul, and the construction of that home gives various advantages and disadvantages along with your powers.
    • Paranoid Mage by InadvisablyCompelled - this is one of the few urban fantasy books that I’ve really liked. The protagonist finds out he’s a mage at like 30 or something, but the magical government is even more tyranical than the non-magical one, so he goes on the run and tries to fight back however he can. He often makes do by making clever use of his space magic.
    • The Iron Teeth by Clear Madness - This story has a goblin protagonist, and it does a good job of showing how he thinks differently from a human. I also really like the worldbuilding and how the magic systems work and are limited.