Getting back into reading: experiences & advice!

[Memory]

I've just gotten back into reading relatively recently & here's my advice:

• If you're the type to set goals for yourself, make a reading goal. For me, my goal is to read 100 books in 2024, or about two a week. Will I be able to accomplish this? I'm not sure, but I'm definitely going to try!
• Keep books in multiple formats. I have physical copies of books that I carry around when able, but if I don't have a book with me, can't find a copy of the one I want, it's too dark to read, etc, I have books on my phone.
• Read what you want. Don't force yourself to finish books that you don't enjoy.
• Join a book club or find a friend who can help you stay accountable for your reading goals.
• Keep a reading log. It motivates me to track my reading. If you're struggling with reading, a more extrinsic motivator like this can help.
• Similarly, I like writing personal reviews for books when I'm finished with them. It helps me engage with the book more deeply.
• For me personally, when I'm getting back into reading, I start with shorter books such as novellas or I reread a past favorite. My go-to for getting out of a reading slump is Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto, because that is both those things for me.
• Lastly, just ask yourself why you want to read. Understand why it's important to you.

[grubbyfox]

I used to read a lot as a kid too! I loved Goosebumps and any sort of weirdo spooky/horror story or mystery story. That's basically all I still read, but lately I've become too critical. The last few books I've read have been pretty crap or at the very least just mid, and so I just dont bother anymore. I see friends reading a lot of YA / fantasy stuff and they're aaaalll up in it, but then when they tell me about the plots, it just sounds like utter crud to me xD (But I dont really enjoy YA or fantasy anyway).

I read fanfics from time to time, and I've been looking at thrift stores for old Goosebumps books (or similar) but there's nothing there.

I also feel like a lot of horror/mystery writers these days just either write straight up gore or violence, or they completely fail at the spookyness and horror aspect. I dont want to hear about a mangled corpse or brutalizing innocent people. I want to be SPOOKED by just pure eerieness.

Which is why I end up watching people play horror games instead, haha.

[PurpleHello98]

I echo a lot of the advice here, especially to make it part of your routine: I'm a book fiend these days like I haven't been in a long time and making it part of my pre-bed routine a few years ago really helped that! Also, try a little of this or that to find what you like and read that stuff! But don't be afraid to push the boundaries a little---I was never one for classic books by dead British people until I bought a copy of Jane Eyre, and now that's my favourite book and British classics are one of my favourite kinds of book of all.

[almostcorporeal]

i was a voracious reader as a child who fell off of it mostly due to health issues as i grew older rather than school taking the joy of it from me. i used to read a ton of YA as a kid, manga as well although i still read manga pretty regularly, and when i got older and wanted to pick up reading again, i picked up a YA novel since that's what i enjoyed most as an older teen.

big mistake! 

turns out my interests in reading material had changed over the years without me noticing because it wasn't a skill i felt the urge to nurture for a long time! so i ended up having to start branching out and exploring new genres to find what i like nowadays which turns out is mostly non-fiction and romance. i never finished the YA novel and ended up beating myself up about it a bit.

which brings me to my advice.
like the person in this thread said earlier (im so sorry, i can't remember who), don't be afraid to not finish things. take your time and if you need to borrow it from the library (my current easiest way to read) over and over again, then do it. there's no shame in taking a bit longer to get through a book or even just putting it down because you decide it isn't for you.

branch out! if you're feeling stuck or paralyzed with choice, i like picking something i thought i wouldn't be all too interested in from my list. if it turns out i'm NOT all that interested in it, putting the book down helps me narrow down my choices a bit, and if it IS a book i'm interested in, it helps give me a bit of insight into what im enjoying at the moment and what sorts of genres/etc i should be seeking out to get my reading desires fulfilled.

really i think reintroducing ourselves to hobbies just requires a lot of patience and being gentle with ourselves. especially if something like school or health made it difficult to keep up with your love of reading (or whatever hobby for that matter). i found myself wanting to jump back in at my teenaged reading speed, getting multiple books read in a week and tearing through the library, but it took me about a year to read my first book getting back on the wagon and i LOVED the book! it's helpful to remind myself that reading speed is a skill that you have to practice to get quicker with it most of the time.
 

[Seraphim]

There's so much good advice in this, thanks everybody! If I can throw in one small tip, it would be to engage with the book as well! Whether it's a physical book or on an e-reader. Highlight text, write down quotes, go back and commit parts that you enjoyed to memory. Find some way to engage with the book in addition to reading it. I have been keeping a journal where I'll write down my thoughts on the book as well as if I would recommend, how I felt about the cover, did I learn something or how am I otherwise different after having read that book. It's really helped a lot not only in simply remembering more details about the book, but having pieces of info I can share in conversations with friends about what I have been reading lately!

[xero333]

My relationship with reading can be very on/off. I lose interest in things quite quickly, but I've also finished several enormous book series. When I'm in a slump, I try and not think about reading and just focus on other stuff I like, such as gaming. Eventually I get the itch to read again, and I get back into it with a very short book or audiobook, or a book I've read before that I know I'll enjoy. For instance, this time round I started with a Brandon Sanderson book called The Original, which is only around 3hrs long on audible. Easing myself in is what works for me. If I just went ahead and picked up a thousand pager, i'd fail.

[3lsie]

There's so much great advice in this thread! I'm trying to get back into reading too, and I've just rediscovered the joy of visiting a library. I used to download books to my tablet, but it was hard to find new books, and I do like holding a physical copy of a book. I had so much fun going to the library and browsing the sections in person, picking up books that caught my eye. It's a sense of excitement that I haven't felt while browsing digital copies. It's early days but I hope the excitement of picking up books there and the time pressure of reading them will help me get back into reading.