Hi all,
I have the pretty classic backstory of playing lots of video games when I was young, plus being forced to read books I didn’t want to read in school making me dislike reading.
Until about 2 years ago, I hadn’t read a book for pleasure in quite a few years, probably before high school. And even before then, I didn’t read that much.
I’m making this post because… when I first got back into reading (2 years ago), I don’t think I really understood how fun reading could be. I viewed it as a healthy hobby (which it is of course), and don’t get me wrong I did enjoy reading, but it always felt a bit like something I was doing for health reasons instead of really enjoying it. Sorta like a chore that I was forcing myself to do.
If you’re in my position… Just keep trying different authors, different genres, different series. I think I accepted reading as being only a slightly enjoyable thing because that’s just what I thought it was.
6 months ago I finally read a book series my brother had been recommending for a while, and it completely changed my relationship with reading. I enjoyed this so much more than I thought I could. I didn’t have to convince myself to read anymore, it was the main thing I wanted to do. I think in one day I read about 250 pages. I was almost too obsessed with it, I nearly cancelled plans with friends because I wanted to read haha.
I’m not trying to advertise this specific book series or anything, but if you’re curious it’s Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson.
TL;DR - if you’re newer to reading and feel like it’s a chore, don’t give up hope, keep trying new authors or genres and you might find something you really enjoy. there’s almost certainly something out there that’s made just for you, and you might have to sift through a couple “okay” books until you find it.
Funny, Mistborn was the last reading for pleasure I tried and I couldn’t get through it, haha. But yes, we should also normalise just stopping books we are not feeling. It is ok to try something else or juggle a few books, and come back to them later.
I can totally imagine that book being really boring to some people. I almost didn’t include the actual book series in this post but I thought people would be curious.
I think for people who are big readers, reading books that they only kinda enjoy isn’t a big deal for them. They might even just appreciate that it’s different.
But for folks who don’t read much and are trying to get into it, chugging through a book they only partially like might ruin their entire vision of what reading should be.
re: Mistborn- To be honest, it is just Brandon Sanderson. I want to like his stuff, especially as I liked what he did with Wheel of Time, but his originals just aren’t for me. What has drawn me back more is the Discworld series and non-fiction other stuff. People love Sanderson’s stuff though. I’d like to see them as movies, I think, or a show!