Posted on 03/05/2025 8:25:53 PM PST by CondoleezzaProtege
There’s nothing like the magic of getting lost in a good book. Who doesn’t love being dazzled by a fantastical world, riveted by a twisty murder-mystery plot, or emotionally destroyed by an epic ending from the comfort of their couch? But if it’s been months or years since you’ve devoured a book, you might be wondering where that spark went—and if you can ever get it back.
First off, there’s no shame in losing your bibliophilic gusto at some point. Thanks to the little dopamine dispensers glued to our palms and endless TV shows competing for our attention, it’s a common problem these days.
The good news is, reading for pleasure is a habit you can reboot with a bit of practice… Here are their best tips on how to reignite your passion for reading.
1. Choose books you’ll actually look forward to reading.
2. Try a new genre (or an old favorite).
3. Start with breezy reads.
4. Or books with short chapters.
5. Give yourself permission to DNF. (Do/Did Not Finish)
6. Involve other people.
7. Create (or seek out) special vibes for reading time.
8. Switch from physical books to e-books (or vice versa).
9. Put your phone on a time-out.
10. Don’t count out audiobooks.
11. Take advantage of your local public library.
(Excerpt) Read more at self.com ...
I love books. With reference books, I prefer hard copies because it’s easier to look up stuff, but my fiction books (because I have too many hard copy books) are almost always from an e-reader these days. I do love the feel of books, though, especially a nicely made one. I’d carry a nice book around, in part just for the aesthetics of it.
I never fell out of love of reading.
Being semi-retired, and generally indifferent to TV, I have plenty of time to read, and spend several hours every day doing it. Usually the Bible/theology in the morning, history and natural science in the afternoon, and novels or short stories in the evening. I like paper books, but I transitioned to Kindle some years ago and it has been a great way to buy books, learn about books I didn’t know about, and borrow from digital libraries and Internet Archive. I have always enjoyed learning new things. My reading schedule helps my do that and keeps my mind sharp. In some ways I am better mentally now than when I was younger. Reading is just an all-around satisfying experience for me.
I’ve always loved reading. My dad taught me when I was five. Could and did read adult novels then. My kids were early readers too.
Was editorial director of company that published the Chicken Soup for theSoul books, wrote books published by Simon and Schuster and Harper Collins. That was about a million years ago.
Now I can’t read much of anything. Need a corneal transplant and, thank God, getting one in about two months. Then back to the library, the book store, and AMZ.
I initially read the title as “Red-ing” as in Reading, Pennsylvania & was slightly confused....
That said, I have been a voracious reader pretty much my whole life... as a kid I read thru encyclopedias for “fun”. But in the past couple of years, I’ve really slacked off. I think it’s partly because I now need reading glasses and they bother me after a while, but also because of
“electronica” and other distractions. Even this forum (and a few others I frequent) take up a lot of time in my daily “downtime” routines. I do appreciate some of the suggestions listed, not sure if all of them work for me, but it does serve as a nice reminder to attack that pile of books by my bedside.
— as a side note — the last book I read was a young adult romantic fiction written by my daughter (I was helping with edits), and the one before that was “Hillbilly Elegy” by JD Vance (very good read, much better than the movie)
Reading PA? Reading MA? or Reading, Berks.?
Well, bless your heart!! Prayers up for your corneal transplant!!
Might as well get the whole list of places named Reading in here.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reading_%28disambiguation%29#Places
10. Don’t count out audiobooks.
Translation: Make it a podcast! You will miss half the detail and probably the main arc of the argument or story, but hey, it’s something!
I would but I’m too lazy to read this.
My buddy just finished David Copperfield - I just read that last fall! So we talked about Dickens for an hour.
Book readers are the coolest people.
This is something I talk to people about every day. I started a local magazine a year ago and we have a 3rd party audit our readers about their reading habits. From 2023 to 2024 we saw a 60% increase the number of times that people read the same magazine each month (from ~8x to ~13x). Digital exhaustion is real, and disconnecting from Social Media, Digital and other forms of information overload for a few minutes gives you the ability to relax and actually think about a topic at your own pace.
My wife was Secondary English Ed major.We homeschooled our 3 daughters with an extremely extensive reading writing curriculum that she developed. They practically lived in the local library - the librarians knew them all by name. She is now a reading tutor with a 1500+ book home library and constantly adding more.
Youngest daughter requested and read the unabridged version of Les Mis at 7.
Middle daughter would devour novels faster than my wife could procure them from the library.
Oldest daughter read Bill Bennett’s “Book Of Virtues” at age 5. She now considers Poe “light reading”.
Scripture, history, and Louis L’Amore for me.
Great post! Thanks!
#goals :)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.