My mother of all people made a good point about my reading habits!

Maybe I struggle with finding the right book to read because the books I read aren’t interesting enough. I always say it’s aphantasia and just having AuDHD which could still be the case. Though as I was speaking to my mother, she mentioned how maybe the books I read aren’t engaging enough. Which leaves me unable to finish the book with the exception of those rare moments. Doesn’t matter if it’s a physical book, audiobook, or even an e-book, if a book doesn’t grab me within those five to ten chapters, then I lose interest. I do try but some books aren’t engaging enough for me and it feels like there are so many. I can’t even figure out why some books I finish, I am able to complete them. I don’t know what it is about those books that make me finish them. Because of this and what my mother said, makes me think I am very picky and particular about what I read. That makes finding books that I can actually read and stick with hard. I get bored too fast along with being nervous about the length of the book.This being particular extends to even the manga and webcomics that I read.

So, how in the hell do I get better at being consistent with reading when I find that I am particular and picky about the books I want?

I don’t even know why the books I finished were so engaging to me.

I don’t know what to do about being this picky and particular.

What are your thoughts on this?

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@LadyOfTheRiver

@Xelyn_Craft

@JojoDahlia

@CoffeebyNight

@alenatenjo

@NotARussianBot

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The only way to find out if you like a book and can finish reading it is to pick it up and start.

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I get that. It just seems like so many books are getting harder to try and finish.

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I think I said before that its probably the types of book you’re reading. I am AuDHD and, as a child, I was a voracious reader, even getting through entire trilogies in one sitting. As I got older, that stopped, and at one point I just thought “well, I guess I don’t really read anymore”. Turns out, that wasn’t true, I was just reading stuff that didn’t appeal to me even if I wanted to like them.

It is totally okay to be picky with what you read, in fact, most people are. There’s a reason most readers have a “did not finish” pile. In fact, I just added one to that pile the other day!

The thing I’d advise is don’t be so hard on yourself. If a book isn’t for you, then it isn’t for you. Just close the thing, throw it on the DNF file, and move on. Perhaps there’s also an element of preferring a certain way to read, too. For me, I prefer paperback, but eBook is fine.

If you have a library near you, or Kindle Unlimited, or even an online library like Libby, you can pick up and try lots of books until you find one that clicks. For me, a lot of the more mainstream stuff, especially romance, doesn’t work for me at all. Thrillers and lesser known self-published romance and fantasy work for me just fine.

Is this because you’ve been trying to read the same types of books, though? Same genre, same tense, same themes?

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Being picky is good but it also means that you aren’t able to connect with other readers over popular books.

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Probably.

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Meh. I’m not looking for a connection.

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Let the books find h first. :grin:

That’s what is do! :eyes:

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Honestly, this makes a lot of sense. If a book isn’t interesting for me, I seriously struggle with reading. Which is a problem when you’re a lit teacher and have to read some really really REALLY boring and uninteresting books that make you want to set fire to them, throw them out a window or generally want to destroy them. If it’s a book that gets me, I could read all 600 pages in one day (or used to because migraines now stop me weeeee). It’s the same deal with movies and tv shows.

The only way to really engage consistently with books you aren’t interested in to expand your horizons is to, well, force yourself :sweat_smile: Set a time of day, maybe 30min - 1hour, to sit down and just do it. I have no idea if this works for an AuADHD / aphantasia mind tho. That’s beyond my knowledge. Ebooks you could listen to while doing something else (eg walking) if that’s an option.

As for being picky / particular, it’s totally normal. All readers have their preferences. Just keep looking til you find what you’re interested in.

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