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 No.11591>>11592 >>11598 >>11609 >>11627 >>11802 [Watch Thread][Show All Posts]

Hey /lit/ I want to start reading books. I honestly can't remember the last time I opened a novel to read for recreation and not for school. I have noticed my attention span has been shortened and I'm not able to focus on things for very long. I also would really like to expand my knowledge on well anything and expand my vocabulary and rhetoric. I don't know where to start though. There's some books from my childhood that were memorable (I'm 21) which I'll end up reading again most likely.

I've always liked the sci-fi genre and am a huge fan of Star Wars and Halo but there are so many books I wouldn't know where to start. I'm also a paramedic so I'll probably appreciate some about medicine too.

Also, how do you guys incorporate reading into your daily routine and how do you decide on what book to get next? Do you always read books to the end or stop if it doesn't interest you anymore?

tl;dr: Don't read, want to start, wat do

>Pic semi-related. It's my dream department

 No.11592

>>11591 (OP)

Starship Troopers


 No.11598

>>11591 (OP)

>how do you guys incorporate reading into your daily routine and how do you decide on what book to get next?

when i have time i read. mostly before going to sleep. as for choosing a book, to me it's a long process when i inspect my bookshelves over and over until something catches my eye.

so… i guess you like the more adventurous kind of sci-fi over the more speculative one, correct?


 No.11603>>11606 >>11607 >>11608 >>11617

>I have noticed my attention span has been shortened and I'm not able to focus on things for very long.

Dump video games.

/lit/sters typically frown on /v/ related pursuits as an art form. I'm not one of them. The arguments against new media mirrors the arguments against old media: radio, film, ditto television. I imagine some of the same criticism was once hurled against the widespread adoption of a form of high technology known as the printing press. My advise is simply about time management. You must make the effort via leaving something else by the wayside.

Putting it another way, don't mix your vices, as Montaigne said.

Take a stab at short stories. Look around for some anthologies, which are typically collections of shorter material. Try out non-fiction works of subjects you might find interesting. Essays, magazine articles, how-to guides, etc. Novelettes are still a thing, and just as damned difficult to write well as a tome.

>Also, how do you guys incorporate reading into your daily routine

Save for when I am on the motorcycle, transportation involves someone else as the driver. That is critical reading time. Just before bed time, or before I fall asleep. Bathroom breaks were made for reading. I tend to camp out in libraries as well, but time here is usually reserved for writing. Unless I am studying something specific such as reference material that cannot (legally) be removed from the library.

>and how do you decide on what book to get next?

Boredom avoidance helps. After finishing a book I tend to move on to something different in scope and style. Yesterday may have been a Warhammer 40k pulp fic, today a Pynchonian postmodern tome. Tomorrow Ulysses, or a graphic novel. Etc.

Read what your favorite writers have to say about works they have read. They may be the best of guides, or utterly surprise you. You're not likely to be bored though.

>Do you always read books to the end or stop if it doesn't interest you anymore?

Stop reading a work? Yep. When you swim through a world of fanfics, and newbe writer submissions there's no choice. It's a question of survival.

For traditional works of literature, I have a high tolerance for difficulty and complexity. I may drop one occasionally, but it's rare.

I hold no loyalty to any series though. There's quite a few series I've not finished, and never will.


 No.11606

>>11603

>Take a stab at short stories. Look around for some anthologies, which are typically collections of shorter material. Try out non-fiction works of subjects you might find interesting. Essays, magazine articles, how-to guides, etc. Novelettes are still a thing, and just as damned difficult to write well as a tome.

This. Thrice this. I got back into reading by reading a collection of Lovecraft stories. I also happened to own a number of anthology books or just books that contained collections of short stories. You'd be amazed what a difference it makes, since you can read a short story in, oh, about an hour depending on how well it captivates you. For someone like me an hour is a really long time, but you can easily find an hour of free time in your normal daily schedule if you look for it. Getting into novels is a lot trickier, but I've found sometimes I can "fool" myself into getting into some novels by treating the chapters as individual short stories that happen to connect to each other. This generally only works for books where the individual chapters follow the climactic rules of storytelling very well. A Song of Ice and Fire is a lot like that.

Also, this probably doesn't work for everyone, but CGP Grey recommended just going to a library and pulling a random book from the shelf and checking it out before you've even looked at the cover, just to surprise yourself. It sounds silly but I hadn't thought about that before. It makes every book feel like a little adventure: You never know quite what you're going to find. If you don't want to do that, I'd still recommend occasionally picking up a book you normally wouldn't, just to give yourself a chance to experience something you might never have before. Never be afraid to entertain the possibility that you'll be pleasantly surprised.

I also have to strongly second anon's advice in regard to dumping certain other hobbies, but for different reasons. I stopped watching TV so I could read books. I mentioned A Song of Ice and Fire earlier, and this is why. I was in the middle of season 1 when I started reading A Game of Thrones. The book is much, much better. It's a bit less sexy, but it's so much more involving. Don't get me wrong, the TV show is good, but it's just not as good as the books. I think the tipping point for me was when I started reading through Temeraire and I realized that books, and especially novels, are just so much better than other forms of media for really personal and emotional storytelling. It helps to know what you enjoy in your media.

This post was a bit scatterbrained because I just got home from work and it's late, but I hope I made my case eloquently enough.


 No.11607

>>11603

>Save for when I am on the motorcycle, transportation involves someone else as the driver.

not op, but i get headaches when i read on cars or buses.


 No.11608

>>11603

>bathroom breaks were made for reading

That's a great way to get hemorrhoids


 No.11609

>>11591 (OP)

>I'm also a paramedic so I'll probably appreciate some about medicine too.

This might be of interest:

>>9910


 No.11617>>11826

>>11603

I don't see fiction books as different from vidya that doesn't demand quick reactions.


 No.11627

>>11591 (OP)

I drive by this station every week.

>Doralfag reporting


 No.11802

>>11591 (OP)

>huge fan of Star Wars


 No.11824

I read best on long journies or in public areas like a park or library. I really struggle to read when in the house.

Anyway, you may like Brave New World.


 No.11826>>11833

>>11617

> I don't see how something that encourages multitasking is any different from something that requires deep, devoted concentration.


 No.11833

>>11826

Games with multitasking require fast reactions, and it's rare to have fiction as complex as meaningful nonfiction.




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