Reading Without Limits or Expectations | Hacker News Reader

Reading Without Limits or Expectations

carolinecrampton.com

68 pointsherbertl16 comments

If I treated reading like a chore, it would start to feel like a chore.

I'm not being graded. If I start a book and I don't care about the subject or the characters after 50-100 pages or so, it goes in my Goodwill pile. The only decent exception to that for me is Stieg Larsson -- his "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" books take their time getting started without being boring.

That depends on what I'm reading.

I sometimes read math papers - these are hard to read and I don't understand much, but I'm willing to deal with the chore because it expands my thinking long term to do so. People should read works like this that are at the edge of what they can understand. Even if there isn't a test, it will sometimes help with life (there is some evidence this delays mental decline and thus results in a longer life span - I'm not sure if it is true but an additional point)

When I'm reading "dragons vs rouges" or some such fiction I'm looking for fun so if the book isn't fun I drop it fast. I probably wouldn't get far with "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" if what you say is true - there are more fun books I would enjoy than I have time to read as it is, so if fun is the goal I'm going to drop anything that isn't proven fun quick.

I make an exception for Walter Scott on the rare occasions I read him. I find I need to put in a lot of effort for Scott!

I have a marquee in the window of my apartment. At first it said “read more”. Then I realized that wasn’t adequate so I changed it to “read wider”. What you read matters more than how much, and the best way to tackle that is to read everything, particularly things outside the comfort zone.

Even worse than reading as a chore, is the compulsory self-expression required when studying these subjects in school. "What do you think about this theme in this book?" How about none of your business, Mr Teacher!

This year I read 30 books. I'm very proud of that fact, HOWEVER.

I set a goal at the start of the year. And definitely at certain points I was optimising for that goal. And it took a lot out of me. I would have to do it rigidly, I would need to read X amount of pages.

I still enjoyed what I did. I still think it was ultimately a worthwhile goal. But this year my goal is to just "read." Not read N Amount. just to read for the pure enjoyment of reading.

The point about not setting a goal rings true for me. A few years ago I set a book-a-week goal and it definitely had a large influence on the books I chose to read.

I tend to read a lot of books simultaneously, but much I’m not convinced is the best approach (esp for fiction) but I’m undecided yet on if it’s a habit worth changing.

I just started reading simultaneously instead of sequentially and it really helped me get back into reading every night. The problem with one book at a time is that I'll get stuck or sick of one and then I just don't read.

Just ditch a book you’re not into. Life’s too short. I’m trying to write a book and I would hope a reader that isn’t into my book would just abandon it early

Often for me it’s not about not liking the book, but not wanting to read it right now. This is particularly true with philosophy, but also true of fiction (I’m currently reading and loving Infinite Jest, but I’m not always in the mood for it).

I'm still reading Infinite Jest. Started back in 2020, one hundred pages left. I doubt I will ever read it again if and when I finish it. I liked Wallace's shorter works and thought Infinite Jest would give me something to do over lockdown. I get some of the themes in it, like entertainment being a sedative, but some parts just don't grip me, like the Eschaton (which I feel should) or radioactive hamsters wandering through wastelands.

That's not it at all. I do ditch books I'm not into. The situation I'm describing is usually where the story has some tension or I feel like the next chapter might have tension, and I don't want to push on for the time being. I need some calming space, and another story is perfect for that. Edit: I said "sick of" in my previous comment when really I should have said tired of.

For me, just writing down the books I read into a list seems to have made me read more. (Well, I can't be sure, since I don't have a log from before I started logging, but I certainly feel like I'm spending more evenings reading!)

I don't want to "gamify" reading, that would make me choose short/easy reads. I love those challenging reads that stay with you, change you, give you new perspectives. (And I also love obsessive fun reads.) But I think often I don't read because I don't feel like I'm being "productive". So it's not lack of motivation, but this nagging feeling of "wasting time" (and so I'd open my laptop and click around aimlessly online as if that was more productive). However, simply being able to change an item in my org-mode file from "TODO" to "DONE" has mostly taken away that feeling, now I both read from enjoyment and don't feel like I should be doing something on the computer.

Last year I read about 3 or 4 books. This year I’m planning to read at least 12 books. I learn more from books than at my university.

It gives me a pleasure satisfactory that just comes from reading about how a person formulates their reading list.

A lot of the stuff she is reading is quite light. Agatha Christie novels can be read within one sitting. She likes her crime fiction.

I was given a pile of Jon Ronson books over Christmas. I had already read one or two of them but I am working my way through the rest. He's fun to read.

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