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Comment by ggillas | Hacker News Reader

The best reading breakthrough I had was to eliminate my need to complete a book.

If I've lost the plot, I throw the book away. If I've got the advice author's gist, I move on.

It's allowed me to enjoy reading fiction again, get to the books I need in the moment, and move faster through my reading list.

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I learned to do that not too long ago, I started reading Asimov’s Fundation trilogy, but I struggled picking the book from my desk every single time, I was supposed to love it, everyone loves Asimov, so I had to love it too, but I just couldn’t, I felt guilty. Then I realized that the point of reading a novel was to enjoy it, if I was not enjoying it then I was just reading in a pretentious way. Since then I only keep reading if I like what I’m reading or if it will help me in any way.

Honestly... I grew up reading Asimov, but I didn't read Foundation until my 20s, and I was... underwhelmed. I still adore his short stories (I often re-read them and discover something new), and I have fond memories of his Robot Detective novels and the standalone book "The Gods Themselves". But I also didn't love Foundation. So, don't feel bad.

Some of the ideas in Asimov are compelling. But he's not a great prose stylist.

Me too, it took me a long time to realize that not all books were good for me or to my liking. When I realized it was ok to put a book down and pick up another I was released from a weird guilt.

I also think we teach literature and history in the wrong direction. I’d start a literature course with contemporary works and work back in time. Same with history

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