Idk, I'm not a particularly slow reader but it's May and I've only gotten through two and a half books this year when reading ~40 min per day.
this post was submitted on 08 May 2026
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I am also reading Finnegans Wake
I'm a slow reader, arguably a bit dyslexic even. 15 minutes of reading is maybe 3 to 4 pages.
I find myself accidently skipping lines, then having to go back and re read what I already read, then realize I skipped that line too and the page all over again.
Even if not dyslexia, that font designed for dyslexic readers actually helps me a lot.
i work night shift, and i found Libby and suddenly was burning through a novel every day or two. i used to be bookworm as a teenager and its nice to get back into it :)
Remember, reading isn't about numbers.
Don't turn into that douche that always quotes how many books they've read that year like speed reading and skimming are admirable and all books are the same length.
Maybe the sort that piles them all up and posts to social media thinking it is impressive or that people will like them for it.
You read for you. Take your time and enjoy.
I mean it isn't being a douche, this fact motivated me to set 15 minutes aside a day because now I know I can get to the books I want to read in a reasonable amount of time and helped combat sunk cost feelings when I start something.
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I read to my partner for 10-15 minutes every night before bed. Hard to know how many books it’s been because we accidentally started East of Eden and it’s been over 6 months I think.
Enjoying the process is key here I think. Don’t count books. Enjoy each page and each chapter as part of a journey where you’ll eventually get there.
Steinbeck <3
Have you read In Dubious Battle? It's my fav after Grapes of Wrath
yooo thats such a good idea I just suggested it to my wife
I'm reading the book that never ends: lemmy 😎
the plot is a bit messy, waiting for things to come together
Tbh I only started reading in like season 4 and I'm so confused as to what's going on. The author needs to stop introducing new characters, we already have too many.
Bean
Just the one?! What?!
God now they're throwing references at me only for people who read the side story "the great bean memeening". I can't keep up with the Lemmy extended non-cinematic universe.
I got back into reading like a year ago. I must say reading articles online and messaging boards etc do NO favors for your reading comprehension lol. It's like capping yourself at a 3rd grade level of reading. Not that you shouldn't spend time reading stuff online and getting up to date on current events etc but reading books is a different kind of focus imo and most even young adult books are written at a higher reading level than most of the stuff we consume on the internet.
It's getting even worse now that like every other article is spit out by an LLM
I'm retired, arthritic, agoraphobic, and neurodivergent... I average slightly more than one book a day.
How do you find new books to read?
Get old enough, and you forget them faster than you can read. Just rotate
Lemmy will hate me for this but I subscribe to Amazon kindle unlimited. Since I read so much, I definitely couldn’t afford to pay for each book and the local library is pretty hit or miss on availability. Ultimately most of what I read is entertaining garbage but when you read compulsively like I do, the entertaining part is more important than the quality.
I don't read nearly as much as you, but something like 60 or 70 books a year. I found the opposite to be true: I could find way more that I wanted to read on the Libby library app than on Kindle unlimited. I mostly read SF and fantasy, so I go though all the Hugo and Nebula nominees and read recommendations from places like Locus Magazine. Then I tag those books that interest me in the library app, and place holds (reservations) on a handful of the ones not currently available and start reading ones that are. It seems to work pretty well with zero dollars.
I always have a bunch of books on hold on Borrowbox so there's always one available when I need a new book. Then I start that one and take the rest off hold.
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I figure I already read tens of thousands of words a day on here and the news apps, and it's not exactly doing me mental health favors - so I went and renewed my library card this winter and have knocked out about 15 in 4 months. It feels really good to get your sense of focus and attention span back! Takes a bit of time but its like riding a bike, your brain goes back to being a kid.
I hope you had books as a kid.
I hope your kid has books today.
This was me, last week lol. Already had the card, but criminally underused it. I love philosophy, but haven't read most of the actual works, so I picked up some Camus and Kafka. Just finished The Fall, and I'm so glad to have done so.
I also signed up for Libby, thinking audiobooks on hikes would be dope, but so far my mind wanders too much to absorb the words, so that's been challenging.
I just wish we could do anonymous book checkouts. No way I'm giving the State a list of everything I read.
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Reading is fundamental
The Library... is open.
👓
Pro Tip: Take long bathroom breaks at work and spend the time reading labor laws.
Hopefully when they start complaining about your bathroom breaks, you've already understood most of the labor laws to file a lawsuit against your shitty employer.
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I’ve been trying to read more, and stumbled on a little hack that’s worked for me.
I’ve used the app Margins (of course, no app is required) and it allows me to list all the books I’d like to read. The hack is arranging the list by book length ascending. Started with the shortest book on my list, and when I was done I moved onto the next shortest. Completing books gives me the motivation to keep reading.
That's good. I beat myself up for only reading a few books some years.
But I read a looot online.
Even if it's Malazan?
/s
Ah, Malazan, the series that filters out most of its potential audience with the driest and most incoherent first book I can remember reading.
For anyone who bounced off it, know that it gets so much better after that. It's like asking Tolkien readers to start with the Silmarillion - I just skip book one entirely on rereads.
Rereads? Rereads?? The hell, I can't even get myself to finish the first read 🤣 can't get past the fifth book... The first one was actually quite interesting to me. After I got some sense of what's it about 🙂
I have a sales job with TONS of down time. I'm on book 5 of Dungeon Crawler Carl and I just started the series last month. I'm usually getting through a book a week for the last 6 months. it's been awesome.
It's so sad to see people with downtime jobs scrolling Instagram or tiktok all day instead of reading.
Not when you read Peter Hamilton and Alastair Reynolds lol.
I read 15-45 minutes before falling asleep everyday, I'm currently reading Children of Ruin.
Whenever I read before going to bed I sleep better, no doubt about it. So that's another benefit for me.
Hardest part is finding something that tickles me even when I’m exhausted. Something floral and alluring, but soft and flowing. Reading can feel like a chore when you don’t have the mind space. I’m presently trying to distract myself with sci-fi and I just can’t take this much information.
Fuck you, Peter watts, you goddamn wordsmith. I can’t take your verbal girth as I currently am!
Blindsight was both interesting and confusing as fuck.
That describes nearly everything of his that I’ve read. You can tell that he attempts to make his writing accessible, but the density of his descriptions just makes me lose myself. It’s too much info when I’m fried
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