I know these kinds of posts must feel repetitive, but I am getting desperate 🙁
It has been about four years since I was capable of finishing a book for a reason other than to mark it as finished on Goodreads, and I miss enjoying reading so so much, but I can't seem to find something entertaining anymore.
Most recommendation posts I keep seeing are year-relevant 'Best 2025 books', and not someone's all time favorite 'I would do anything to forget this book to read it again' book, and I kind of need these kinds of recommendations at the moment.
please talk to me about your favorite book, something you go crazy for and think a person couldn't possibly dislike.
by jeminx
6 Comments
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, even if you have seen the movies I still recommend it.
Something I’ve noticed is that a big part of my reading block is about mental energy.
I mean, the reason why phones have become so addicting for so many people is because scrolling is easy. Right? It doesn’t take much mental energy to scroll on social media, watch short videos about things. It might not be very fulfilling or satisfying, but it’s easy to do, & scientifically satisfies the part of your brain that’s searching for dopamine, & how to get it in the easiest way possible.
Reading, in comparison, is harder because it requires more mental energy, which many people are not used to now; they’re more used to doing things like mindlessly scrolling. When you read, especially fiction, you create a visual picture in your head. It’s mental work.
People who struggle with getting back into reading are often told to read an old favorite, because it activates dopamine in your brain in a satisfying way. Because you know this book you’ve decided to re-read, so your brain knows what to expect. & then when you re-read one of your favorite parts, your brain is satisfied by getting rewarded with something it was looking forward to previously. If that makes sense.
People also say not to start off with something “hard.” Go for something easy. A favorite, but a childhood favorite. Not something very complex that requires too much energy to decode or process. Short stories are good too, if reading a long book feels daunting to you.
If you’re like me, & the mental energy involved in visually creating images in your mind is making it harder to get back into reading, a good compromise is comics. Comics are very visual. You don’t need to create the scenes in your head, you see them on the page. & they’re very short, typically easy to finish compared to a substantial novel. I think a lot of people look down on them for being childish but there are a lot of very interesting comics. Not all of them are about superheroes & whatnot. A lot of them are indie. I just recently bought a bunch of comics in the horror/supernatural genre.
Hopefully some of that helps. 🙂
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi, if you like historical fiction at all.
Shining Through by Susan Isaacs
Maybe consider changes to how you read rather than what you read. For me, i stopped reading so much when I was busy with parenting. When I tried reading again, I found I couldn’t concentrate like I used to. I had to switch to mostly audiobooks, which I listen to while driving, walking, and doing chores.
Otherwise I need to set aside time on my calendar for personal reading “dates.” This usually works best if I go somewhere like a coffee shop or to a library that has comfortable seating. I have also added better lighting to the chair where I like to read at home and my husband and I have reading nights where we don’t turn on the television.
I’ve learned that I always fall asleep when reading in bed. At first this frustrated me. Now I use bedtime to read books that don’t demand a lot of me, such as old favorites or ones that are easy to remember the plot and characters from night to night.
What works for you might be different. Play around. Try new things.
World war Z perhaps? It’s very engrossing but is also broken up into different perspectives of about 10 pages or so each. So you feel progression very clearly and also want to keep learning more about how different people/groups/countries handle the zombie disaster.
The Martian and Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir are also good page turners. Both space disaster stories where the protagonist has to save himself. You want to know what happens next.
Piranesi is also very good, keeps you wondering and wanting to know more. Can’t tell you much without spoilers but you are discovering more about the world as the protagonist is, and it’s a very interesting setting.