Huh. It just occurred to me that not everyone reads all the time. Like, there’s a bunch of people without books they’re reading right now. That concept is so bizarre to me. I’ve always got several books going. Ebooks, audiobooks and physical copies of books. If you don’t read anymore, when and why did you stop? No judgement. I’m genuinely curious. @bookstodon#bookstodon#books#reading#amreading
I'm not much of a reader now at 40, but as a kid I was definitely that weirdo with a book all the time. I was one of those kids who would use any source of light available to read after bedtime. Pretty sure I read at least one of the Boxcar Children books by the light of my 90s LED alarm clock.
Now, though, I just feel like I don't have the available brain cycles to do it. It's either that my brain is done by the end of my work day, I'm too tired, or I just run out of time in my day.
I think I've been following the typical progression of a "90s Gifted Kid" with ADHD whose spirit was crushed in the late 90s/2000s by grownups who wanted me to fit in to whatever mold they cut for me. The cognitive load of masking all the damn time left nothing to spare for reading.
I've become a reader again, off and on, in my adult life but like anything else I do, it never sticks for long.
In other words, while ADHD drives many people to read VORACIOUSLY, it is probably what keeps me from reading, despite loving stories.
@pseudonymsupreme@bookstodon Too much good video content available and laziness. But I recently got on a roll with audio books. Notably Atwood’s Maddaddam trilogy and now Lou Cixin’s Three Body Problem trilogy.
@pseudonymsupreme@bookstodon depression made it hard to focus on reading anything, and i went from constant reader to a reader who used used to read all the time.. Eventually the depression eased and i would read a few books a year, reading one nearly 24 hours a day so i could really get into it.
Life kept me busy and i didn't feel like i could really get into a book if i couldn't read it nonstop, so that was the pace for many years.
Then grief fried my brain for a long time. I couldn't read anything.
Eventually i crawled back into life, starting by reading and enjoying some YA fantasy novels. Then i found Terry Pratchett and my old zest for reading came roaring back.
Now, i am a reader who reads a lot again
@whatzaname@pseudonymsupreme@bookstodon That description hit home. It's been depression for me, for a long time, and when I finally managed to pull myself up by the hair, as they say here, and started reading and studying again, I lost a dear friend and was hammered with grief. Days are spent behind a computer, first working, then just browsing, netflix, games. Anything but actual thinking. To read is to think, for me, so it feels like I've been in hiding. Still am. Hope to get where you are.
@pseudonymsupreme@bookstodon I had to retire before I had time or energy to read. I was working somewhat randomly first, second, or third shift. I was exhausted all the time. Now, I read 200 to 300 books a year. 😁
when i was in my 20s and in the service, they were experimenting with us doing 2 weeks days, 2 weeks swings, 2 weeks mids, with 2-4 days off between the cycle. even folks in their 20s/30s turned into zombies. ignoring circadian rhythm is not sustainable.
@pseudonymsupreme@bookstodon I paused because if kids. They are young so between work, kids and everything else life throws at you, there just is not a lot of energy and time left. It is much easier to just watch something.
Reading something right now makes me fall asleep quickly.
Earlier in my life I could read through the nights and have done so on several occasions.
I am looking forward to reading regularly again, not just on holidays and the seldom long train rides.
I have some books on my nightstand that are waiting for me. I tried audiobooks with the hope they would fit better into the timetable - but that is just not the best mediaform for me. I get distracted, fall asleep, and listening is so much slower than reading that it sometimes just bores me. The same book can be one of the best to read, but listening to it in "slow" (which by no means is the fault of anyone, it's just how the medium works) does not work for me.
@JohnnyThan@pseudonymsupreme@bookstodon I find the same but plays work for me. Different voices, parts etc. Keeps me engaged. Plus doing something: knitting, jigsaw, driving. Otherwise, yes, I drift off. Used to reading quickly.
@pseudonymsupreme@bookstodon I'm in the middle of a pretty massive binge rn, averaging about .75-1 book/day, but I periodically stop reading anything but cookbooks for longish stretches bc I can't find or decide on anything.
Seasonality also plays a big part - if the weather is good, rummaging in dirt & plants takes fun-time precedence.
Revisiting some fun fiction authors often revs things right back up, though. Most recently tons of T Kingfisher (almost running out now - uh oh), Bujold, and a ton of short story anthologies.
Meanwhile the nonfiction pile has been growing, so I'll probably dig into that soon, for as long as I can cope with the bleakness/fury-generation of most of the subject matter.
And then it will be seed shopping and seedling starting time and reading will prob taper back down again for a while.
@pseudonymsupreme@bookstodon mostly time and lack of focus. I used to be an absolute bookworm as a kid, but due to life and work and everything, it's been a while since I last read a full book.
I stopped for a long time and then got back I to it through audiobooks that I would listen to while driving. But, since I work from home now, I don't have those long empty drives that I needed to fill. So, now I've stopped again.
@anomnomnomaly I remember hearing the late Jeremy Hardy talking about telling people what he did for a living and them saying "Wow, you must be brave! I couldn't do it!", then them telling him they worked as a bomb disposal expert! @pseudonymsupreme@bookstodon
@anomnomnomaly I'd liked to have been a stand-up comedian, but social anxiety and an inability to write stuff down meant I would have ended up muttering the C word at random, like some deranged old man in a park. @pseudonymsupreme@bookstodon
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