To me, reading a book is a huge achievement

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13 Comments

I like reading, but books are really fucking long. It's hard to find the time for them. It's a big commitment to set aside some time everyday for the next couple weeks to finish the book, something's bound to come up to disrupt those plans.

Plus they take a lot of dedication to finish. It's easy to start a new book, it's new and exciting and you have a lot of interest and motivation to read it. Not so much when you're halfway through it and it's not as interesting as you imagined, but you still want to get through it to educate yourself. I always end up "taking a break" from the book for a few days, promising myself that I'll get back into it soon, only to just abandon it altogether. I just finished a book that I started about three years ago but kept abandoning, and I'm really proud that I've finally finished it now.

So it's always a huge achievement for me when I actually finish a book. And it's annoying then when people recommend a book to me as casually as if it's just an afternoon's work.

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78% Normal
Based on 9 votes (7 yes)
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Comments ( 13 )
  • litelander8
    3 years ago

    What book?

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    • freelarking
      3 years ago

      I'm not OP but I recently finished The Hollow Ones by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan. Pretty good occult murder mystery. And to be fair, I haven't finished a novel in years so I'd say it was a decent accomplishment.

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      • LloydAsher
        3 years ago

        Atlas shrugged was my last book I read. It was over the course of a summer but that was a thicc book.

        Most of my friends say the last book they read was to kill a mockingbird or catcher in the rye. Which is a highschool book that everyone in my class read and we graduated 4 years ago.

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  • libertybell
    3 years ago

    Maybe you should try some shorter books. Oscar Wilde wrote many plays that aren't too long.

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  • RoseIsabella
    3 years ago

    Read books about things that truly interest you!

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  • ellnell
    3 years ago

    Definietely agree. I read all the time as a teenager but my focus have just gotten worse and worse plus the older you get the less time you have between job, meetings, household chores or whatever. I think that's why audiobooks have gotten so popular, you can do other things while "reading". Personally I prefer reading by myself though but audiobooks are starting to sound more and more compelling.

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  • Boojum
    3 years ago

    If you're talking about fiction, there's no shame in giving up on a book if it doesn't grip you. I have a rule when I give a TV series or movie a shot without knowing anything about it all beforehand: I give it half an hour, and if I'm not intrigued and involved with the characters and story by the end of that time, I stop watching. The same applies to books: if I'm not hooked by the time I've read for an hour or so, I don't waste any more time on it.

    If you're talking about non-fiction, then things are a little more complicated. It could be that the author doesn't express things in a way you can relate to. Maybe the topic just doesn't interest you, even though you believe that it should. Maybe self-sabotaging is preventing you from taking onboard things that could improve your life. Or perhaps you've fallen victim to over-hyped reviews or word of mouth recommendations from idiots.

    If you get a sense of achievement from forcing yourself to read a whole book even though it feels like slogging through an endless swamp, that's fine; it's your life, and you're free to spend the limited amount of free time you have doing whatever you choose.

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  • olderdude-xx
    3 years ago

    Depends on the book... There are short books that are quick reads. There are ones that are very long and take many days - if not weeks to read.

    I just read "The Art of Influence" by Chris Widener tonight in just a couple hours. A great book on why some people achieve real success and many do not.

    You need to learn to influence people - to be successful.

    Recreational reading is OK too. Recently I've been more into fantasy/Science Fiction than other things for recreational reading. In the past I was into westerns, multiple serials (starting with "The Hardy Boys" and "Tarzan" when I was a kid. I tend to read a lot of history (especially science history), biographies, and have dabbled in most everything (to just see what it was like).

    Just find what interest you...

    I wish you best with this...

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  • Somenormie
    3 years ago

    Books are awesome they fill up your own imagination.

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    • [Old Memory]
      3 years ago

      And here I thought you were the OP 😄

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  • Bluishorange
    3 years ago

    You just got to find a book that leaves you wanting more.

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  • [Old Memory]
    3 years ago

    I had the same thing happen with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

    You're like half way through and it's still setting the stage in yet another locale with new characters

    But oh my goodness the pay off was worth it! The next two books had a running start, with recurring characters and a steady plot line rife with intrigue.

    I've also read The Foreshadowing, The Firm, Sirena, as well as your typical middle school and high school books

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  • my_life_my_way
    3 years ago

    If it’s just a normal fiction book then it shouldn’t really be an achievement to read it. I felt proud of myself for getting through to kill a mockingbird though, that shit borrrrrring.

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