Well, despite what media would have you think, there's nothing wrong with reading fanfiction. Keep doing that if you want, but I'm sure there are other reasons you'd like to change, I won't push. Otherwise, take the great advice, and I suppose I'd offer my own. Since it's fanfiction, there's obviously source material that it's based on. Maybe try to find some books with similar themes to the source material for the fanfiction you read.

I read tons of fanfic and also read 30 books this year. It’s doable! Honestly I read very different fan fic VS books…I like to read romantic fanfic with the typical tropes (there was only one bed!) but I can’t read romance books because they make me cringe. No idea why. Just wanted to throw out there that you can discover new genres you like through books. Just gotta try though. Read some thriller, beach read romances, literary fiction, memoirs, and see what sticks. Use libby!

Also this might not help because I don’t know the English market for this well…but in Korean there are many ‘web fiction’ works that are published through certain apps and definitely have omegaverse etc. I count them as real books. Maybe there could be translated versions? I’m reading a serialized web novel right now that is about a guy who turns into a cat and then needs to play a survival game of getting an owner…and the potential owner is a celebrity he loves. Chaos ensues.

Reading is reading, but I also agree I get something different out of reading ‘real books’ even though I enjoy both! I also made myself just sub on ao3 to the authors I like and only read their completed work rather than constantly being on the hunt for new fanfic haha. It’s helped me be more equal in my reading.

Better yet, go to a library.

Can you find friends to talk about the fanfiction with?

I used to read a lot of fanfiction, even wrote some.

Kindle has an app that allows you to upload documents onto the eReader. Last time I used it it was free. I could read my fanfiction right out in public without having people think the old lady had finally gone around the bend. I have always been embarrassed that I read it.

This doesn't really answer your question, but you are reading and that is what is important. There are some good FF authors out there. Andy Weir started out that way with The Martian.

The Martian was on his site and people wrote and asked him to do a self published book and put it on Amazon because it was easier to read that way or so the story goes. I know I originally got The Martian for $.99, just before it took off.

You are the one who decides what you read and that is the way you choose the material.

Get a library ap and check out a book a month. That way you arent buying a book you might not want .

Though if it seems to much then try reading things like webtoon. You get at times the feel of a good fanfiction but original stories.

I read everything I can so your problem is a bit odd for me but dont put down your fanfiction because some fanfiction writers are truly talented

How the F do you know you read 80 books in your life at 24? Where did this new obsession with counting books come from?

Just read what you like. Find authors you like and read there stuff. Sure enough, that author will lead you to other authors of similar taste.

Don't buy books. Get a library card. Libby and other apps are great for audiobooks as well as digital books. I only buy from authors I like.

At no point in my life have I ever known how many books I've read

I switch between both pretty regularly. I read books when I am ready to start a new emotional attachment or I am in-between fandoms. I read fanfiction when I am too tired to think very hard. I liken it to watching starting a new movie or series versus watching The Office or Friends.

And you'd be surprised by what you can find self published in Kindle.

Don’t read any fan fiction for a month and see if your reading habits shift fully to books. Then decide the right balance for you moving forward, and gradually re-introduce fan fiction back into your reading schedule. I do this whenever I want to mix up my genres, and it works every time

I also used to read a lot of fanfiction and I still do sometimes. Fanfictions sometimes helped me finding new books. Maybe try to read one about characters of a book or a fanfiction with characters that like reading. That might motivate you into reading new books. And if you think you read too much fanfiction maybe consider imposing some sort of limit. Like two books a fanfiction or use fanfictions as a small reward for a new achievement.

FanFiction is most definitely comfort food and I’ve found myself slipping back into the same habit as you. I know the characters, I know what I like, it’s easy, quick and free to access and I know I can mentally see and hear them with little effort. I use Goodreads and have roped my sister and brother in law to do the same as motivation and I’ve joined in the reading challenge again this year.

What do you like? Are there particular shows, universes or movies you’re reading fics of? Maybe we could suggest some similar authors for you to take the daunting feeling out of finding a new book to enjoy. For example, I love Rizzoli & Isles. I absolutely LOVE it when I find a multi chapter fic for that universe that’s well written and well plotted. From that, I learned that I would probably very much enjoy Patricia Cornwell’s Scarpetta series and have almost read all of them.

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Spend more time reading books… the answer to every question on r/books

I love fanfictions and i honestly think that some of them could easily have been books. It's not that I think that books are superior in any way but when i read fanfictions i am looking for what I know I will like so I always read the same type of things. It has happened that I read 10 different stories with the same premise just because I liked it. It's almost like comfort food.

When you read a physical book, given the lack of specific tags, it's always a surprise. I just want to expand my horizons.

I also want to be able to talk about what I read to people in real life. I could talk about fan fictions online but it's not the same (also I like to talk a lot ahah)

I think you are on point with finding a genre or an author that I enjoy. When I first read something by Oscar Wilde I read in a short span of time almost all his works. Since then I didn't get lucky in finding something similar so it's been a bummer.

Also no worries in me forcing myself to read ahah if that were possible I wouldn't have books unread that I bought 8 years ago

Then what's the problem? If you enjoy the fan fiction keep reading what you like.

I don’t know of any apps off the top of my head, but I’d be shocked if something like that didn’t exist. The local libraries may also have book clubs if they do any kind of programming—a lot of US libraries do though I don’t know about other places in the world. I work at a library in Missouri and we have book clubs, and I also joined a Zoom book club hosted my friend who is a librarian in New York.

You might be psyching yourself up too much with the need to read “high quality” published fiction, and gravitating toward fanfiction as a result.

Look: I read a lot of litfic. I am literally an English teacher. And litfic is not always fun to read. There are published novels that offer all the raw pleasures of fanfiction, but have the polish that fanfiction doesn’t have. This is very common in the fantasy, romance, and thriller genres. I read a huge mix of “smart” and “fun” books, and I won’t tell you that the smart books have never been enjoyable, but they have also almost always been work.

Read what you want to read.

Most of the tropes you find in fanfic exist a lot in the romance genre and it's becoming more common for AUs to get published with name changes.

Let go of the stigma attached to fanfic and read what you like.

I think this is a great idea!! I always talk to my friends and family about the books i read but usually they have not read the same books as me so it's more or a monologue than a discussion ahah Confronting my opinions to the ones of other people would really motivate me.

Do you know where i can find online book clubs? Is there an app or something? Actually i live in Milan so there are probably book clubs in real life, i should look for them.

Thank you for the suggestion!

What is cancerous about fanfic?

Estate sales and thrift stores can be good sources for cheap books and the selection is random so you get a variety.

Or you could try a challenge like read a book from every country or read a book from every decade after a set starting year.

You could join an online book group or a group that meets physically. There is a group on reddit starting the Master and Marguerita and some other reddit book groups.

I would first ask why it is so important that you read books instead of fanfiction. There is nothing wrong with liking (fan)fiction and you can actually learn a lot from fictional stories. Characters in books make mistakes, observations and have perspectives that you can learn from.

If the only reason that you want to read books is because they feel more legitimate (as your comments seem to say), that may be the problem. You won’t enjoy it as much if you have to do it, it is only a performative action for you. It is also a mistake the assume that reading books = self-growth, you have to be in the right mindset to take in the message, what you won’t have if you force yourself to read them.

Perhaps instead of setting a goal where you have to read a certain amount of books so that you feel accomplished, set yourself the goal of finding a book-genre / writer that you enjoy, en then find the motivation to switch form online to offline.

People have already given some good suggestions but another one I would add is you might want to consider joining or starting a book club! Knowing you’re going to discuss a book with other people can hold you accountable for reading it, and it can be a good way to branch out and read stuff you might not normally have picked on your own.

You're welcome:)

Thank you so much for the suggestions!! They really seem right up my alley!