Help me read.
May 16, 2009 12:15 PM   Subscribe

On the cusp of every summer for the past couple of years, I made a list of books to read over the summer. But I have spectacularly failed to actually read, every single time. What do you, fellow-mefites, do to keep your noses buried in books and not be tempted by the beach, the bar or the intertubes?

NB:
In case you need to know, instead of reading, I spend my time watching shows on a bender or aimlessly surfing the web or going on ad-hoc road trips; which can be immense fun but not fulfilling.
I'm not looking for book recommendations for the summer and the list I have consists of both fiction and non-fiction ranging from Stephenson to financial valuation to philosophy.
posted by Lucubrator to Education (19 answers total) 4 users marked this as a favorite
 
I take the book with me to the beach and the bar.
posted by box at 12:16 PM on May 16, 2009 [1 favorite]


I make sure I don't have enough money to afford beaches and bars, but just enough to get used books. Having seasonal allergies also helps.

Seriously though, cancel your cable and put the TV in the closet. Go to bed early, even if you're on a road trip, and read for an hour or three in bed every night. Also, read on the can.
posted by jeffamaphone at 12:24 PM on May 16, 2009 [1 favorite]


I read outside. Even at the beach.
posted by meerkatty at 12:24 PM on May 16, 2009


I think your list is just not filled with interesting enough books then. Change your list and your reading won't be something you think you should be doing but something you want to do.
posted by gt2 at 12:37 PM on May 16, 2009 [1 favorite]


I bring a book with me wherever I go. Sometimes two so that I can choose between the two depending on my mood.
posted by blithecatpie at 12:38 PM on May 16, 2009


I tend to read less during the summer because I don't wear a coat I can carry books in. I'm thinking of buying some sort of garnment to carry books this summer, because having books with me at all times is what makes me read.

It used to be that I was unable to read at home, so I would take the bus, or go read in a café or a public library, but now I've set up a little space for reading (away from the TV and computer) and I can actually read at home. This enables me to read physically larger books that I wouldn't want to carry with me everywhere.
posted by Monday, stony Monday at 12:52 PM on May 16, 2009


Best answer: Get away from anything more interesting than reading your books, at least for a while. Quiet is good. After your concentration/interest improves, ease into your proximity to those distractions a little at a time.

Also, I used to do this at the beginning of every semester to get back into study mode: I kept ONLY a slip of paper and a pen with me as I read. Each time I was distracted enough to look up, I'd make a hash mark on the slip, then force myself to look right back down at my book. This trained me to pay attention to the number of times I was getting distracted, and gradually I was making fewer and fewer hash marks until I could read without getting distracted easily.
posted by Rykey at 12:54 PM on May 16, 2009 [1 favorite]


One good way to read AND save electricity and energy at home at the same time is to go out on a really hot day (this is easy for me in L.A., most days are this way in the summer) and just hang out at a coffeeshop for a couple of hours. Sip a cool drink and read read read read. Getting myself physically detached from the tv and video games and extra work to do encourages me to read because I enjoy it so much but consider it such a luxurious "only if I have time" activity.
posted by so_gracefully at 12:57 PM on May 16, 2009 [1 favorite]


The one thing that really worked for me was getting a job that's a substantial distance from my home while not owning a car. Nothing gets you reading like an hour on a bus.
posted by baf at 1:02 PM on May 16, 2009 [1 favorite]


Hrmm, sometimes I find reading mass-market paperbacks (pick your poison... Grisham, Jeffrey Archer, Dennis Lehane, chick lit, etc.) helps get me back into the reading mode. They're usually a quick read and written to encourage more reading (cliffhangers at the end of chapters and the like).
posted by backwards guitar at 1:51 PM on May 16, 2009


This may seem like a contradiction in terms, but...have you considered just NOT making yourself a list of books to read?

I have a hunch that, in making this list, it is starting to feel like "homework", and so of course you want to delay something that you HAVE to do. But instead, if it's something that you don't "have" to do, that you're not putting pressure on yourself TO do, then...maybe you'll do some of it.

Just get a couple books, but don't put pressure on yourself to read them by a certain date. Just....have them ready in case you feel like it. Then, when you feel like it, pick up one of them. Read until you don't feel like it any more, then stop. If you feel like giving up on one book altogether, then do. If you just want to stop for the day, then stop and set it aside for later.

People too often approach reading as a chore and forget -- this is supposed to be fun. You're supposed to be doing things you enjoy. If you just plain don't enjoy it, then...don't do it.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 2:56 PM on May 16, 2009 [4 favorites]


Do you actually go out and buy the books? I keep lists of books I want to read and never end up reading them because I keep put off buying them. But when I actually have a book in my hands I have a hard time putting it down. Also, I always bring books to the beach and anywhere I think I'll have to wait around (Jiffy Lube, dentist...)
posted by loulou718 at 3:03 PM on May 16, 2009


I go to bookstores and libraries and then end up with piles of interesting looking books around the house. It's harder not to read them.
posted by jacalata at 6:20 PM on May 16, 2009


Force yourself to read for five minutes every single day (even if it's just on the can) -- this will keep the option of reading in the forefront of your mind.

If you've gotten through the first chunk of the book & you still aren't compelled to read for more than five minutes at a time, get a new book. No need to hang on to a boring read even if it is on your reading to-do list.

Also, I agree that mass-market quick reads can help get your mind on the right track. They seem to be a helpful transition from tv brain to complicated book brain.
posted by jenmakes at 8:00 PM on May 16, 2009


Pick one book. Carry it with you at all times (maybe not in the shower, though), and you'll be struck by how many times/places give you the occasion to sit and read.

Alternatively, take your morning coffee at a coffee shop instead of your kitchen, and bring your book along when you do. Then start your day with some coffee and realxing reading.
posted by Jon_Evil at 10:17 PM on May 16, 2009


I go to coffee shops to read -- if you order your coffee, sit down & don't have anything to do and have a book, you'll start reading, and then you'll keep reading until you're tired of it and want to leave. I also find that I can't read from a list -- once I finish a book I'm usually in the mood for a very specific kind of book to read next, so I have to choose them one at a time to actually stay interested in them. YMMV.
posted by devilsbrigade at 10:17 PM on May 16, 2009


read books you enjoy....they don't call them beach books for nothing, try sunny places and places with few distractions and once you get deep enough into a good book to not want to put it down you'll be fine.
posted by OHenryPacey at 11:16 PM on May 16, 2009


I have a coworker who is a bookaholic, and she started loaning me books she thought I'd like. I started reading again because I felt...well not pressured to read them, but ... it gave me the nudge I needed.

I then joined a book club. That forces me to read one book each month...and then I ususally find myself wanting to squeeze in another book inbetween.
posted by radioamy at 12:38 PM on May 17, 2009


Oh, heck, I read most in the summertime now. Do you have a back yard? A balcony? What I find is conducive to my revived love of reading in the summertime is sitting outside. Inside, there are so many "instant" entertainment (and timewaster) options like TV, DVD, Wii, and of course, the web. If I surf the web, it seems to fulfil my reading need, and then when I step away from the computer, I don't feel like reading a book, fiction or non-fiction.

But in the back yard, it's just me and the books. (I alternate between reading and gardening--I fully intend to spend this summer on the weed n' read program, too.) Sure, I could bring the laptop out there, but it just seems right to sit in the quiet with a book, a beverage and summertime.
posted by Savannah at 2:44 PM on May 18, 2009


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