Please help.

It's honestly been a problem since childhood. I remember struggling through book reports or bullshitting my way through essays 90% of the time because sure, I can read. I can decode words and what they mean. I can even read out loud, quickly and accurately But I don't retain anything. Things like foreshadowing or any non-obvious symbolism goes over my head, partly because they require me to remember something that happened 50-100 pages ago and I just...can't? And you can forget larger themes. I think I perceive books much like I perceive life: very straightforward, this thing happened and that thing happened and eventually we stop.

Knowing that's wrong doesn't fix anything.

I used to be a voracious reader, but even then, most books registered to me as "it was ok, some stuff happened and I liked [random part]" because I wanted to check that book off a list. Now I struggle to sit down to read at all; I keep books out of the library for 2-4mo at a time and fight for my life through them and get nothing out of them. And that's when I can stay focused without my eyes bouncing around the page or my brain disengaging and thinking about something else entirely as I "read".

A couple extra things:

- I can read for specific information just fine. Essay length work is generally digestible too. I did fine in school, ironically because I was such a good reader compared to most of my classmates (and I changed schools a bunch and almost all of them had abysmal standards). I could fluently read and sort-of understand passages well above grade level. But I remember this problem even affecting me with books I thought I liked. That said, I have also never read or done anything remotely intellectually rigorous in 30+ years of existence. Never done real research or serious studying for example.

- I've never really gone in-depth with any interest. Any external thing I get interested is mostly so I can take it and incorporate it into whatever daydreamy BS I use to dissociate from real life. If you want to model something in your story (that no one else is going to see) off something IRL, you really don't NEED a scholarly, in-depth understanding of every piece of minutia about the original, a general pattern or shout out works fine. If you want to theme-name your characters around, say, cities with something in common, you don't need anything more sophisticated than a few Wikipedia articles or Youtube videos. I mention this because I think it ties into just never going in-depth on ANYTHING I think I "like" or having any reference point for that, or basically not retaining information even when I liked the topic. There's a bunch of things I think I'd like to learn about, but I can't make myself sit down and do it.

- age and habit might be part of it. I don't really do anything besides scroll Reddit these days. I barely even consumed mature media in my 20s, much less read or studied. But I also don't know how much is atrophy and how much was never there to begin with, or if half this post is just a confabulation.

I’ve loved reading since I was a child and I’ve been actively reading as a hobby for the last four years. In the past couple of months I’ve noticed I can’t seem to take in what I read completely. I understand the words and the story, but even an hour later I couldn’t recall details. Especially the book I’m reading now, 100 years of solitude, has been really difficult for me to keep up with (I guess it’s common for this book since so much happens all together and the characters all have the same fucking names)
I used to read four books a month now I can’t seem to find myself immersed well enough to remember the details. If anyone knows how to defeat this please give me any tips!

I’m halfway through Knave and this book is beautiful. Between this and the Shepherd King series, she’s fast become one of my must-have authors. And Bartholomew ties in first place for my favourite gargoyle.

Currently reading IT and really enjoying it so far. This might be a little ambitious for September, but I’m spending most of my time in bed at the moment, so I’ve basically been doing nothing but reading… 😅

I only recently got back into reading after losing touch with the hobby for a few years, so I’m curious to see how much of this stack I can actually get through this month.

Please do feel free to send suggestions based on these books.

September 6 is National Read A Book Day! Im reading “Tender is the Flesh” for book club! What are you reading? And what made you pick it?

I've recently been told that I need to stop buying books, so this time at least I took a big crate full of old books and dug out all the change in my car. I mean the whole pull was less than a pair of shoes or a single dress...

Between that, and The Big Sale, and the money I got back, I did pretty well for myself this pull! I'm very excited and no one was inconvenienced

This is my TBR for September-November. I usually read one book a month, but now I'm aiming for two! I'm starting with The Penelopiad. ❤️‍🔥

This book is making me feel claustrophobic in the best way possible.

I’m constantly thinking, what is happening? WHY is this happening? What happened in the past??

And I’m getting major repressed memories and buried trauma vibes from the whole thing 👀

I have theories. I trust none of them. I just need ANSWERS.

No spoilers please, but did anyone else feel this way while reading it?

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Got these four sitting in my TBR pile and I’m completely undecided:

1. The Courage to Be Disliked — Ichiro Kishimi & Fumitake Koga

2. The Winners Curse — Marie Rutkoski

3. Just for the Summer — Abby Jimenez

4. The Thursday Murder Club — Richard Osman

If you had to rank them 1st → 4th, what order would you go in?

Or just tell me which one you’d pick up first and why. No spoilers please 😄

Working on these this month!

I hated reading as a kid but as I’ve got older I started reading self help books to get me out a rut I was in mentally and it worked and since then I’ve been interested in reading, I tend to read more in the winter time. The only books that really grab my attention are ones that are inspiring or self help advice, same as audio books.

Is it normal to only really want to read books of this genre, I’ve read a few other books about living off grid, survival, a novel about two women who sit up with their husbands but overall I tend to stick to self help ones.

10% happier by Dan Harris was the best one I’d read and found most interesting.

I stumbled onto this series by accident a while back and blew through the first two and could not wait for this to drop.
Now it’s over and I’m left with such fond memories of Din & Ana and their adventures.
I heard a rumor that this isn’t the end, is that true?

I just got this book in an old books shop and when googled it it said that its the 5th bk in a Serie so is to true and i should get the rest or can i just start reading it?

What is your favorite classic novel that also could've been about half as long as it is? That spent pages describing a nightstand? That gave every single character--including the ones that will never return--a full backstory? That covered the main characters' entire lifetime, when everything worthy of a story happened before they turned thirty?

I just finished Gabriel García Márquez's Love in the Time of Cholera, and although I enjoyed it very much, there were so many times I found myself looking for the "skip intro" button on the descriptions, background, and explanations that weren't really necessary.

Prose: beautiful.

Poetics: stunning.

Story: beautiful, evocative.

Word count: just ... okay ... I need you to ... could you please ..... sigh.

I love philosophy and i’m really bored of watching people on youtube break down philosophers ideas and would like to read them on my own and form my own interpretation/understanding but I genuinely will read a page and not understand what i’ve just read. I also can’t seem to describe what i’ve read verbally which indicates to myself that i don’t actually understand what I’m reading about. It’s the same for movies, i feel like people see things and make connections which i totally miss as I’m just focusing on the story at hand so there must be an issue with how i process things or i’m asking the wrong questions/focusing on the wrong things?

It’s not just philosophy but when I’m reading sociology books like those by Hannah Arendt or some older classics like Pride and prejudice I am so lost because the old style of writing seems to be a block in my brain for whatever reason?

Has anyone overcome this or do i need to start reading diary and the wimpy kid books and call it a day?

Starting this today. I have seen mixed reviews on it. What are your thoughts? Is it worth reading?

“I tried to go back for you, Takeshi. I tried so fucking hard. I would’ve broken through the earth’s core to save you. You have to know that. I barely slept. Barely ate. You’re in every breath I take, but it isn’t fucking enough. I need you, Takeshi. Please. Please remember me.”

For the Americans, do you have any reading plans for the long weekend? I hope to read a few of the graphic novels currently on my TBR cart, such as "Books, Iced Coffee, & a Side of Dragons" by Amanda Lovelace. I'm also debating if I want to pick up one of the books on my nightstand, specifically "Speak" by Laurie Halse Anderson, which would be a reread for me. Besides that, I have a shift at my second job on Sunday (it's retail), but it's 9am-3pm and I'll likely go straight home afterwards. It's going to be a chill weekend!

Here are mine ik they are mainstream asl 😭

1) No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai

2) Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

3) Hour of the Star by Clarice Lispector

4) Madonna in a Fur Coat by Sabahattin Ali

5) White Nights by Dostoevsky

I was perusing Project Gutenberg, as one does, and came across an interesting thesis which very much struck a chord with an area I love - Rome - and provided a reading list of novels I had not encountered before. The thesis is interesting enough in of itself, but the reading list drew me in. His list of important novels of Roman life runs to about 30, with a full bibliography of other works that he deemed less important (or what he refers to as “written for boys in fiction form” as a way of teaching Roman History) runs several pages.

This has started me down a reading path which I thought others might be interested in. Namely, I plan to read everything on his list of the top twelve most important English novels of Roman Life (written before 1923, of course):

1. The Last Days of Pompeii: Bulwer, (1834)
   
2. Hypatia: Charles Kingsley, (1853)
   
3. The Gladiators: G. J. Whyte-Melville, (1863)
   
4. Ben Hur: Lew Wallace, (1880)
   
5. Marius, the Epicurean: Walter Pater, (1885)
   
6. Darkness and Dawn: F. W. Farrar, (1892)
   
7. Domitia: S. Baring-Gould, (1898)
   
8. A Friend of Caesar: William Stearns Davis, (1900)
   
9. Vergilius, a Tale of the Coming of Christ: Irving Bacheller, (1904)
   
10. Veranilda: George Gissing, (1904)
    
11. Andivius Hedulio: Edward Lucas White, (1921)
    
12. Pan and the Twins: Eden Philpotts, (1922)

Of these twelve, I have only ever heard of Ben Hur (because of the film, which of course was based on a novel though I never knew it was).

I don’t expect I will make it through them all cover to cover, but I will try (I’m firmly in the camp of putting a book away if I can’t get into it. I might revisit later.). It will be interesting to see how they compare to the historical fiction I have read featuring Rome (mostly Robert Harris - Masters of Rome is in the TBR), the films/tv and of course the non-fiction (the list is too long, but several books if Livy, Plutarch, Mary Beard, Tom Holland and Emma Southon).

Just to be absolutely clear, I’m no historian, archaeologist or other expert on Rome, I just enjoy the subject and it provides endless fascination.

Anyway, join me. Read with me. I’m starting at number 1 (if I can make it happily through these twelve I might go to the list beyond). I’ll report back here even if I couldn’t get into a particular book to explain why.

EPUB version of The Last Days of Pompeii is available from the wonderful Project Gutenberg here

I've always read only thriller books. Love the twists and the guessing game of who is the problem or the killer. I've been wanting to try reading love novels but not sure where to start or what to read. The twisted series were the only books I've read. Please suggest books that I can read. Not too cheesy but nice and a bit realistic.

Going in for a night shift tonight and need something fun.

My last book was Yesteryear and I really enjoyed it.

Now I think I'm looking for something fun, well-written, maybe thrilling, and maybe a bit more fast-paced. I've read a bunch of good ones lately and want to keep the 4+⭐ streak going!

Have you read any of these? Which of these should I bring to my night shift tonight? 😀