I'm trying to get into reading again, I don't really know where to start back up.
I only have one friend who reads a lot and I've tried reading some of his recommends but honestly his favorite books are at a more advanced reading level than I'm at, stuff like Gravitys Rainbow, Infinite Jest, Stranger in a Strange Land, and also more emotionally intense books than I'm prepared for like Beloved. He has a degree in philosophy and has been writing on his own, both short stories and full length books so he's on another level. He did gift me a great book I loved, Psalms for the Wild Built, and the sequel.
My own history with reading, I've read almost everything Terry Pratchett has written, a couple Tom Wolfe novels I really liked, Read the Witcher series, when I was like 10 I read the bible front to back (0 capability for reflection at that time though), some Dan Brown, Neil Gaimon, David Sedaris (through audiobook), Bill Bryson, Stephen King – the stand, under the dome, and some of his short stories, and ofc a bunch of the books everyone has read, to kill a mockingbird, some hemmingway, etc. Also I really vividly remember reading Kilobyte lol.
I also read Leo Tolstoy's A Confession at a critical moment in my life and that book saved my life, but from then on I became transient and I kind of got into reading more or less these massive 'garbage' webnovels, tons of wuxia and xanxia, some 40k, and notably worm which I actually really liked, eventually falling out of reading though because most of what I'd been reading was just the equivilant of junk food.
So I've just been out of the loop, and honestly a bit delayed in terms of like… not continuing to develop reading skills throughout my adult life, and my struggle now after falling out of habit, before i was a speed reader, and so like well now, im older, I'm really understanding and even critiquing what I'm reading while I'm reading so i go slower and I have to like process and go back and reread sections or make notes, and just mentally I find it much more tiring to read for longer periods than the fuckin speed demon – read a hundred pages in an hour, retain nothing but the imagery, that I used to do.
Idk where to even start with all that, I am a picky reader who finds the more interesting stuff inpenetrable.
by willdeblue
5 Comments
What Tom Wolfe books did you like? When I’m trying to get back into reading I always try reading short story collections. Try Ted Chiang Stories if my life or Murakami’s Blind Willow.
Start with a YA book – they’re usually shorter and easier to get into. Hunger Games, Maze Runner, Divergent, Harry Potter, Percy Jackson
Or reread a favorite to get you back into reading. Or at least an author you’ve already read. Just saw Dan Brown is releasing another Robert Langdon book (or it was just released).
Dungeon Crawler Carl[Goodreads](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56791389)
Try The Big Over Easy by Jasper Fforde. It’s a noir police procedural murder mystery with nursery rhyme characters. Humpty Dumpty–did he fall or was he pushed?
Demon copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver might really work for you. I found it an easy read but it was captivating in a way that made it feel like a more “distinguished” novel.