I used to burn through books, one Christmas my mum complained that she could’ve got a refund on a book I got if I hadn’t folded a page to keep track of where I was because I finished it by the time we were having dinner. Then school told me I was only allowed to read books from a certain reading level they’d given me for English class, and I had to complete an evaluation test to make sure I’d understood it before I could move up to the next level. I can barely get through 3 pages at a time now because that school program killing my love of reading.
Unless you’re like my friend who read it with me, in which case you’ll finish it. Love it. And then mope about because you can’t find any books quite like it and is even less likely to pick up a book now because it’s not The Expanse.
There are a lot of other good options. While they are not as engaging as the Expanse (in my opinion, YMMV) tell them to check out and the Bobiverse books (starts with We Are Legion) and Murderbot Diaries (starts with All Systems Red). I found both of those very entertaining.
I’m realizing in my adulthood just how much school has hurt my impression of reading.
Throughout most of my life, I was so used to reading something and then having someone else explain it to me, that I never had the confidence to go off and read things on my own.
I always had a book, sometimes several books, that I was reading on my own, and I read well above my grade level. But my high school went on a really big reading kick while I was there. Basically every class had books assigned to read at one point or another, I think even some of the math classes did. One homeroom period a week was dedicated to SSR (sustained silent reading) where you had to be reading something, you weren’t allowed to do homework, be on the computer, etc.
So they did a really great job of turning reading from something I genuinely really enjoyed to something that was a dreaded chore.
I still read occasionally, but nothing like I used to. Some of that’s being an adult with a busy schedule
But I definitely see plenty of space in my schedule where I could read and just don’t. It’s harder to get myself into the headspace where I want to read anymore.
I almost got myself back on track a few years ago, unfortunately it was just as COVID hit and I had just started reading The Road, which I was really enjoying, but with all of the shortages from supply lines being disrupted it was hitting a little too close to home.
I’m almost back on track now, but I doubt I’ll ever get back to where I was before high school murdered my love of reading.
I used to burn through books, one Christmas my mum complained that she could’ve got a refund on a book I got if I hadn’t folded a page to keep track of where I was because I finished it by the time we were having dinner. Then school told me I was only allowed to read books from a certain reading level they’d given me for English class, and I had to complete an evaluation test to make sure I’d understood it before I could move up to the next level. I can barely get through 3 pages at a time now because that school program killing my love of reading.
If you’re a SciFi fan, read the expanse series. It’ll reinvigorate your love of reading again. At least, it did for me.
Unless you’re like my friend who read it with me, in which case you’ll finish it. Love it. And then mope about because you can’t find any books quite like it and is even less likely to pick up a book now because it’s not The Expanse.
You can try the Old Man’s War series, The Three-Body Problem series, Children of Time. Lots of great sci-fi out there.
They jist released the first book in a new series. Mercy of Gods.
They’ve got a novella in the same universe too!
Livesuit
There are a lot of other good options. While they are not as engaging as the Expanse (in my opinion, YMMV) tell them to check out and the Bobiverse books (starts with We Are Legion) and Murderbot Diaries (starts with All Systems Red). I found both of those very entertaining.
I’m realizing in my adulthood just how much school has hurt my impression of reading.
Throughout most of my life, I was so used to reading something and then having someone else explain it to me, that I never had the confidence to go off and read things on my own.
School sucks. We need a radical redesign
School also really killed my love of reading
I always had a book, sometimes several books, that I was reading on my own, and I read well above my grade level. But my high school went on a really big reading kick while I was there. Basically every class had books assigned to read at one point or another, I think even some of the math classes did. One homeroom period a week was dedicated to SSR (sustained silent reading) where you had to be reading something, you weren’t allowed to do homework, be on the computer, etc.
So they did a really great job of turning reading from something I genuinely really enjoyed to something that was a dreaded chore.
I still read occasionally, but nothing like I used to. Some of that’s being an adult with a busy schedule
But I definitely see plenty of space in my schedule where I could read and just don’t. It’s harder to get myself into the headspace where I want to read anymore.
I almost got myself back on track a few years ago, unfortunately it was just as COVID hit and I had just started reading The Road, which I was really enjoying, but with all of the shortages from supply lines being disrupted it was hitting a little too close to home.
I’m almost back on track now, but I doubt I’ll ever get back to where I was before high school murdered my love of reading.