On settling down with a good book...

[littlemissattitude]

I've got something of a dilemma on my hands. For the better part of the past couple of months, I've been having a difficult time finding things I want to read and, even worse, settling down to read once I do find something that sounds good.

I've started a number of books lately, only to find myself just not picking them up when I have the time, or picking them up and putting them down again after only a few pages. It isn't the fault of the books, I don't believe, at least in most cases.

So, tell me - what do you do to get back to successful, enjoyable reading when you find your attention span dwindling?

 

[CarlottaVonUberwald]

only thing i've found that works is abreak from reading..or reading soemthing really really light.

 

[dwndrgn]

Popcorn!

 

[littlemissattitude]

Popcorn!

Actually, dwndrgn and carlotta, popcorn reading is kind of what I've fallen back on. I've gotten hold of something called The Footprints of God, by Greg Iles, which has, so far as I've been able to tell, plots to take over the world and artificial intelligence and folks on the run. And I at least keep picking it up, which is more than I can say for most of the books I've started lately. Perhaps this book will help me get through this dry spell.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Popcorn and a good book most definitely go together! (When I was a teenager, I used to like a big mug of lemonade, a handful of gingersnaps, and the novel of my choice ... but my aging stomach could never handle that indigestible combination now.)

I think it's rare for me to be unable to concentrate on a book. The real problem seems to be finding enough of the right sort of books (which is to say, whatever sort appeals to my taste at any given time). I've been particularly fussy lately, scouring libraries and bookstores (new and used) and not coming up with many books that satisfy me. I know it's not lack of concentration, because when I do find something that appeals I devour it in very short order.

 

[littlemissattitude]

I wish I could eat popcorn. Unfortunately, my digestive system has decided lately that it doesn't like it, even if I do.

Actually, popcorn reading is what my best friend calls books such as romance novels and the like, anything that is less than nourishing intellectually and can be gotten through quickly, like the popcorn that disappaears before you know it when you are concentrating on a good movie or good book.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Yes, I know about popcorn books, but my heat-addled brain failed to immediately make the connection and I interpreted the remark literally. Besides being stupified by these high temperatures, I do actually eat a lot of popcorn when reading or watching TV (popcorn being one of the few things that I can digest these days, at the same time providing much-needed fiber).

Hmmm ... the connection between comfort food and comfort reading is probably a whole conversation in itself.

 

[mosaix]

I have some SF anthologies going back to the 60's (yes I am that old!). They started me off reading SF - I remember being absolutely stunned by them. Whenever I want a really good read I just pick one up, open it at random and start.

I think everyone must have a story that they read years ago that they've forgotten about. Just dig it out and start reading!

 

[nixie]

I'm seem to have hit a break wall recently,I've read so many excellent books this year I'm now finding it difficult to find something to grab my attention.So I've entered a reread frenzy on books I enjoy

 

[GOLLUM]

I'm seem to have hit a break wall recently,I've read so many excellent books this year I'm now finding it difficult to find something to grab my attention.So I've entered a reread frenzy on books I enjoy

Huh? You mean my recommended list has run out already?...

Can't you check out more of the Masterwork series or are they not readily available??

 

[kyektulu]

My usual cure for not having the will to read is a evening in alone without tv or radio on, a nice hot bath, chocolate and a comfy chair... oh and of course, a good book.

I admit to being guilty of not reading myself lately, most of the time I simply have been too busy or tired to read.

 

[nixie]

I need to get my to read pile down,plus Kyes sent me Maggie Furey Artefacts of Power series.So buyings on hold at minute

 

[kyektulu]

The series is a good read Nixie, im sure you will enjoy it, just make sure you keep an entire evening free, I couldnt put them down when I first read them.

 

[tonic]

I've run into that problem too. I've been reading a lot of fiction/literature lately, and this last fiction book that I picked up hasn't caught my attention. So my method to solve it was to go back to something light, and something light for me is my guilty pleasure which is Fantasy. I did that and read Steven Erikson, and although I don't think you could call any of the Malazan books light, it did it for me. I would suggest reading something like The Hobbit, or the Harry Potter books, even the Chronicles of Amber to get back into the swing of things. Sometimes too much reading overdoes it.

 

[GOLLUM]

The series is a good read Nixie, im sure you will enjoy it, just make sure you keep an entire evening free, I couldnt put them down when I first read them.

Kye is right Nixie, Artefacts is an excellent series! A pity her more recent trilogy was a major let down though..

 

[j d worthington]

Interestingly, my problem seems to be just the opposite; whenever I'm having trouble with reading, it's because I'm tackling things that are too light for me (at the time -- I like light reading mixed in, I'm by no means against it). So what usually works for me is picking up something really, really meaty that I can sink my teeth into and get totally absorbed in, something that requires "mental mastication" -- and I get so involved in enjoying the beauty of the writing, the complex levels and interweaving of themes, etc., that I have difficulty putting it down, even when my brain goes on overload (much like spending too much time in an art exhibit and coming out feeling like you're walking the deck of an old clipper ship in a high sea). This doesn't have to be fiction, for me; as long as it involves a lot of thought, it works. For example, I'm having trouble with Mieville's Perdido Street Station right now, not because I don't like the writing, but because, for the moment, I need something that probes and dissects things on a literary level; so I've gone more with the Burleson post-structuralist analysis of some of HPL's work, and bewildering as some of the wordplay in there can be, I find it engages me more for the moment and helps to clear my head more than anything else. That way, when I'm feeling better, I can go to the Mieville and give it the sort of attention it deserves.

So, in essence, it depends on the person and what works at that particular time. I mean, a long time ago, when also dealing with an illness that prevented sleep, I kept my sanity by a combination of reading X-Men comics (Phoenix saga) and M. G. Lewis' The Monk! Other times, it's been the short-story collections of the '40s, '50s or '60s -- sometimes things as diverse as Dangerous Visions, other times a collection of the Conan stories by Howard et al.

 

[dwndrgn]

Not that these aren't great suggestions, but littlemiss, I'd suggest reading Callahan's Crosstime Saloon. Each chapter a different short story, each story short, sweet, to the point and guaranteed to make you smile. Good for doldrums, blues, just feeling blah...and short enough to keep you attentive throughout. I've read it a million times but I finally bought my own copy - and promptly lent it out...that's how good it is.

I figured you'd get the popcorn reference

 

[Nesacat]

Littlemiss my suggestion is pretty similar to dwndragon. While I've not had problems with being able to read I have sometimes been unable to stick with a particular book.

Switching to collections of short stories has always helped. And like Dwndrgn I tend to re-read favourite collections and one of mine is also Callahan's Crazy Crosstime Saloon as well as The Lady Slings The Booze. They are a wonderful read. All the stories are very different and you can choose to put the book down after any tale without feeling like you've just missed everything. Other collections I keep handy are Robert E Howard's Conan or Kull short stories. Again, they are fairly predictable and easy to read and you can put them away and go on to anything else at any time. They are all of them good when you are feeling blue or when the world just seems to be going wonky.

I also have several Lovecraft collections but for me at least these are very much akin to comfort food. I read them because I know what I will find and yes there is always the possibility that something might seem different this this around. They are very much like old friends I guess and never fail even if I have read them a million times already.

 

[steve12553]

I have to agree. I keep several short story collections: Science Fiction , Fantasy, Detective and one book labeled Pulp Fiction (Nothing to do with Quinten Tarentino). Sometimes you need the light stuff.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Rereading doesn't solve my problems in finding something I want to read, not anymore. Anything I enjoyed enough to reread (and that I didn't read for the first time within the last couple of years) and that's readily available at the house or the library, you can pretty well depend on it that it's already been read a second (or third, or fourth ...) time. There comes a point where I need a longer period between readings.