Books read, May 2023 > Likes and Comments
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Got lots of these on my TBR! I'm genuinely in awe at how books you manage to read in a month, I've been in such a slump for the past year or so, where I'm happy if I can read 2-4 books in a month. Do you feel like you've become a "pickier" reader over the years? I feel like if a book doesn't hook me in the first few chapters, I have a really hard time finishing it, and in general, finding things that appeal to me is getting harder with time!
I'm *definitely* pickier than I used to be, and I will readily put down books that aren't working for me in favor of trying something new. I do my best to give them a fair chance, but if I'm 10% in and still not all that engaged, or if something about them (e.g. bad prose or offensive characterization) puts me off sooner . . . life's too short to read books I'm not really enjoying.
As for the overall quantity, I realized about five years ago that if I wanted my brain to go on producing stories, I needed to feed it a more substantial diet. Then the pandemic really boosted that, because I wanted to get offline and away from all the bad news, which had the salutary effect of reminding me that reading (on paper especially) is much better for my concentration and focus than the distractions of the internet. Not to say I don't still spend a lot of time online, but I try to turn to books for my leisure!
Completely agree with life being too short to read books that you don't like and, yeah, bad prose is such a turn off! Especially in fantasy, if the style feels too modern and/or gratuitously crass, it makes me put down the book immediately.
Good point about feeding a storyteller's brain with a substantial diet, I think mine is a bit starved nowadays. Will make more of an effort, but as you say, the distractions of the internet are constantly lurking to snatch our focus away 🥲
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Isabella
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Sep 05, 2023 02:38AM
Got lots of these on my TBR! I'm genuinely in awe at how books you manage to read in a month, I've been in such a slump for the past year or so, where I'm happy if I can read 2-4 books in a month. Do you feel like you've become a "pickier" reader over the years? I feel like if a book doesn't hook me in the first few chapters, I have a really hard time finishing it, and in general, finding things that appeal to me is getting harder with time!
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I'm *definitely* pickier than I used to be, and I will readily put down books that aren't working for me in favor of trying something new. I do my best to give them a fair chance, but if I'm 10% in and still not all that engaged, or if something about them (e.g. bad prose or offensive characterization) puts me off sooner . . . life's too short to read books I'm not really enjoying.As for the overall quantity, I realized about five years ago that if I wanted my brain to go on producing stories, I needed to feed it a more substantial diet. Then the pandemic really boosted that, because I wanted to get offline and away from all the bad news, which had the salutary effect of reminding me that reading (on paper especially) is much better for my concentration and focus than the distractions of the internet. Not to say I don't still spend a lot of time online, but I try to turn to books for my leisure!
Completely agree with life being too short to read books that you don't like and, yeah, bad prose is such a turn off! Especially in fantasy, if the style feels too modern and/or gratuitously crass, it makes me put down the book immediately. Good point about feeding a storyteller's brain with a substantial diet, I think mine is a bit starved nowadays. Will make more of an effort, but as you say, the distractions of the internet are constantly lurking to snatch our focus away 🥲
