I liked her narration but all the 'umm's and 'ahhhs' and half-yawns got to me lol. Her Richard was much more bored with everything than my reading of him.

I don’t think you’re understanding what I’m saying and that’s ok 😉

Oh my god. I live for the question because I have such a strong opinion on it.

Donna Tartts “the secret history”

Good God.

I love her. I really do. But I am so terribly sorry. Her monotone, cute southern accent does NOT go in ANYWAY with the tone of her book. A wonderfully written book but man. I was listening to the audio book about 30% of the book because I had a lot of errands to do and wanted to just finish the novel - I cringed a lot!

If you like something, if you love something, like it with pride, love it with pride. Who cares what other people say, you can't demand someone not have an opinion or voice their opinion, because it hurts your feelings. If something makes you happy, why would you care what anyone else says or thinks? I have never understood that way of thinking.

Stop stamping your foot, and demanding that everyone has to agree with everything you think and say. You aren't two, and no they don't.

You're responsible for your feelings, if you feel bad because someone said Colleen Hoover is awful, that's on you. Because you don't think she is awful, and your opinion is the most important opinion to you. So why would it matter to you if other people think she is awful? You have zero power over someone else's thoughts, feelings, and words. You only have power over how you respond.

Thanks for your post. A lot of great points.

To be honest, I’m not someone that gets a ton of joy out of reading. It can be a grind for me. I do it because I think it’s really important. Not only to learn, but as an escape from the internet and its nonstop stimuli. In my 20s when I felt like I was working a dead end job it made me feel like I was still improving myself and not going backwards. Now I want to get better at my current job and try to understand the world a little better. I read a lot of history.

There are times when I’m really into a book and get into a flow with it where I can read for a while without noticing how long it’s been. I think I’m chasing that readers high every time, but it rarely happens.

I suspect the lack of a passion for reading is why I can’t quite get into fiction and the classics.

I’ve tried setting goals and it does help. Even just a modest 15 pages a day let me feel like I’m building momentum with a book.

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any thoughts on these titles?

bluets, maggie nelson

diaries, franz kafka (schocken edition)

letters to milena, franz kafka (vintage publishing)

crush, richard siken

fleabag the scriptures, phoebe waller-bridge

ordered them and i wanna know what others think^^

People don’t know how to think for themselves and also seem to have forgotten how to respect other people’s reading choices. I have gotten such vitriol thrown my way for reading things that the media have vilified. It kinda takes the fun out of reading because I’m afraid to share what I’ve read.

I wrote a story that involved the stinky cheese man when I was in fifth grade. I don't remember what it was about but it ended with a farmer blasting him with a double barreled shotgun. My teacher left a comment saying it was too violent.

I feel you, I guess the older we become the more tangible our own mortality is and the awareness that our time here is pretty limited. What works for me against these spiralling thoughts is acceptance, there are too many books out there and no one will be able to read them all. And it doesn't matter anyways. I'd say show no mercy in weeding out the books you think are "meh" and pick those that sound like a real treat. There must be some good reads among them. I'm reading Alice in Wonderland atm and I enjoy it a lot. Probably gonna pick some classics soon, Quiet on the Western Front, Crime and Punishment, Where The Red Ferns Grow being some I can think of from the top of my head.

I keep seeing "she's not a good writer" but also see the argument "read what you like" and "read to escape or for entertainment". People could be right she might be the worst writer there is but here's the thing, for me the one book I did read by her, Verity is entertaining as hell and I tore through the book fast than other well written books by authors that are considered great even if just in their genre. So which is it? She is a bad writer so you shouldn't like her? She's on tik tok a lot so for that you shouldn't like her? She's getting more people to read so you shouldn't like her? That last one is laughable.

So what if she's not a great writer. Some literary classics are damn near impossible to read or understand for some of us that are frankly just reading for fun. This genuinely just feels like gatekeeping and it makes it harder to have conversations with people about books specially online. I recently made a post about Very by Colleen Hoover that I thought would engage people in conversation and thankfully it did but it immediately got down voted and had a few comments that had nothing to do with the book but with the author. It's sad.

She's a popular writer of basically lowbrow fiction. These kinds of authors are always lightning rods for criticism in some way or another. Some people dislike the fact that she seemed to come out of nowhere instead of "earning" her success, but there have been authors like her in every decade for over a hundred years. As far as her "romanticizing" toxic relationships, well, one of the selling points of lowbrow popular fiction is that they do things that seem "taboo" to readers looking for non-moralist escapism. Obviously there is a fine line to walk without tipping over, and Hoover seems to balance the line quite well, as evidenced by her popularity. So every criticism of her books' "problematic" nature are in some way also a selling point for a lot of people. I think her critics would do well to try a different critical tack if they want to curtail her popularity, because the current one obviously hasn't been working.

I got you, fam. Choice paralysis is a documented scientific phenomenon.

So I have a full excel spreadsheet that records every single one of my books, and all the books written by the authors of those books in a side-column, so I can break it into an easy visual list.

I break the books up the same way I have them on my bookshelf. So organized by author (last name first), then within that section by series (if they wrote any, with individual works going at the bottom) then the books in publication order within those sections.

The only time where I don't follow this process is when it's a multi-author series - like, I'm not going to put my Ian Fleming Bond books 3 shelves down from Benson. So I shelve them amongst the authors by series title instead.

Then I start at the top of the list. So Adams, Douglas. First series in the list is of course the HitchHiker's Trilogy, so I read The HitchHiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Once done, I then skip down to the next name on the list - in this case, Adams, Taylor (No Exit). Then Austen, Jane (Pride and Prejudice). Barker, Clive (Books of Blood, volume 1... real whiplash there coming from P&P).

By doing this, I don't have the chance to get bored of a particular author's style unless I get a run of similar authors - and if that happens, read the first, then skip to the next dramatically different author. And when I hit an author that I've read all the books I own (So example, Buehlman, Christopher - I only own Between Two Fires) I kick over to my To Buy column, and place an order for Those Across the River. Because I already know I like his style, so it's a safe bet I'll like the rest.

When trying a new author I've never done before, I try to research what is considered their 'best' work, and start with that, as long as it isn't breaking up a series. If I don't like that, I don't bother with anything else they wrote. And if I start with their 'best' and reach a point where the 'lesser' works aren't doing it for me anymore, I stop, and consider my collection by them 'done' unless they unveil a new masterpiece that has the rest of the world talking.

That being said - don't feel too bad about those 90 page rage quits. As a general rule, if I'm not fully hooked (or at least determined to slug it out to the end) by the halfway point, I'll often ditch a book and move on. Usually closer to 25% - if by then they're not wowing you, the rest often won't be any better.

The quantum thief? It was written by a quantum information guy and it shows lol

A few things came to my mind as I was reading your post.

Why do you read? Are you trying to improve something like language or understanding other perspectives? Do you read for entertainment, relaxation, or to escape? Is it just another thing on your To-Do list?

Do you set any goals or join any challenges? I do both of these things to help guide my reading each year. I have infinite choices so focusing on a theme, genre, or my TBR pile helps narrow choices for me.

It's also OK to take a break from reading, we all have seasons in our lives when it's more stress than benefit to do certain activities.

I used to read to be better at my job, so my books reflected that and I rarely read for pleasure. Now, I'm retired and I primarily read for pleasure, but I also want to continue to learn things, so my book choices reflect that.

I find getting clear on the purpose of any activity is helpful to decide how you participate in that activity and how much time you dedicate to it.

Classics aren't for everyone. One of my goals last year was to read some classic books, ones on the everyone should read before you die lists, and for me it was torture. They weren't hard, they were just annoying, but I slogged through them because they were part of a goal I set. I no longer feel like reading these books will enhance my life in any way. I may try more in the future, but I will DNF them if I don't enjoy them.

That makes sense now! When I read her older books in 2012, it was almost impossible to find them at a local bookstore. Now there are entire table displays in Target, Barnes and Noble, etc. It is definitely different and overwhelming.

Oh I see. I get it now, about it being overhyped. I stopped reading her books awhile ago because the new ones stopped appealing to me, and I've been lucky to not have encountered hardcore stans. There are certainly many problematic elements! It just confused me when people who hardcore dislike her books for valid reasons end up attacking me for having found some of her books enjoyable.

Yes, it started out as a Twilight sequel of some sort that became very popular on whatever fanfic site she was on. That formed the basis of 50 Shades. She changed enough things to be disconnected from Twilight and fleshed out the idea into 50 Shades, apparently.

I have a copy of this signed by the author! They came to our grade school when I was about 7 or 8. I still have it and plan to read it to my kids (when they're old enough). I've never met anyone else who has heard of this book, so it's crazy to see an article about it on NPR. How cool!

FOMO is a huge problem in the internet age because we have so many options. It is important to be ok with good enough experience, rather than needing the best possible, because that will be different for every person and impossible to predict. Monday morning quarterbacking is always perfect and never helpful going forward.

I use a complex mix of methods for choosing books. r/suggestmeabook, r/fantasy, r/printsf, r/romancebooks, r/yalit, r/horrorlit and r/historicalfiction all provide both a search function which can be used for words like best or favorite, and also the opportunity to request specific suggestions from long time readers.

I also use best of the year articles from reputable newspapers and lists of awardwinning books. I also have a local bookstore with a staff suggestions shelf that keeps me in touch with new releases. i have found some favorites there.

This just unlocked a core memory.

Yesterday I was just thinking about how I lost this book when I was 12. I loved it

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Sounds like you don't want to get know a very wide range of characters.

Some of us enjoy that.

Read the snot outta that one.