Tips on how to tackle longer books for a slow reader!

[Colleen]

I'm a Mum of 2 and am pretty exhausted most of the time so my reading speed has slowed down a LOT over the last few years. If I have a book I'm really into or even if it's a shorter one I have the stamina to keep going but am struggling on some longer ones. I am reading Adam Bederight now and am finding I'm barely able to make a dent in it as I'm not finding it hugely engaging (but not so bad as to abandon it).

So, please can you share your tips on tackling longer books please?

[Denise]

Try the audioversion.

[Ginny]

I make mini goals for myself, especially with books I'm having a difficult time getting through. I'll tell myself to read 5 or 10 pages of a book,then I can do something I think is fun( like read a book I am really enjoying). Toward the end of War and Peace, I had to do that and it seemed to work.

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

If I'm struggling with a book, I just set it aside. Life is too short. Maybe the time for that book isn't right and maybe I'll want to try it again another time.

[Linda]

Colleen - those long literary beasts will always be there; it's not worth stressing over. I suggest work through some of the shorter ones for the most part - there are plenty to choose from - and save those long ones for when your kids are older and not as demanding, and maybe pick one to tackle when you know you'll have more free time, like during a holiday break, summer, or vacation. I have also found audio books to work well; you can listen to a chapter or two while cooking dinner or walking the dog, for example.

[Melissa Wiebe]

Depending on what you are looking for, there is a pretty good selection of free audiobooks at LibriVox.org. The quality of the readers varies and if you are wanting a longer book, you will get a wide selection of readers for the readers. Some books, that are shorter in length, have only one reader for the book.

[Judith]

All good ideas. I can't think of anything to add to what has already been said but wanted to thank those who submitted their ideas in response to Colleen's Q!

[Colleen]

Thank you everyone :) am going to try some shorter ones to get me going again I think. Live goodreads :)

[Sandy]

Colleen,

I wonder if you may be operating under a misconception. For those who really enjoy reading (as distinct from feeling you should read because it's good for you, or because you've been assigned reading in a class, or whatever), I don't think a busy schedule or a book's length has anything to do with the ability to finish reading it.

You've mentioned in your post that the book you are reading is not engaging you, and that is what I believe is the source of the issue, not the book length or your busy schedule. Some books engage us, some books don't. Just because a book is a so-called classic doesn't mean it's easy or fun to read. And just because a reader doesn't appreciate it doesn't mean that reader is unintelligent, uneducated or uncultured. Readers are at least as varied in their tastes and experiences as writers, and thus, it is unwise to expect all readers to be engaged by a single literary work (or the same short list of literary works, in the case of this 1001 group).

I don't know about you, but the more engaged I am in a book, the more pages I wish it had. Even if I only read a few pages a day, as I have been doing with Hanta Yo for about a year and a half now, I am happy to return to it whenever I can, and do not look forward to the day when I turn the final page (although this does mean I get to update my Goodreads page, which I do so love to do!). I just finished reading The Count of Monte Cristo a few weeks ago. My volume was about 1400 pages, and while I could have read three or four other books with the same time investment, the momentum of the story and my engagement with it kept me turning pages once things got going.

Pick yourself a guilty pleasure read (frankly, it sounds like you could use some serious doses of self care), and rediscover your love of reading. Return to those giant classics only when the desire to actually read them is greater than the desire to finish reading them!

[Denise]

Sandy wrote: "Colleen,

I wonder if you may be operating under a misconception. For those who really enjoy reading (as distinct from feeling you should read because it's good for you, or because you've been ass..."

Beautifully stated, Sandy.

[Charity]

Sandy, that was a most brilliant response!

[Matthew]

Break it into smaller parts and then try to read more often. Also, depending on the book, you may want to skip/skim large sections. Some books I read slow (Take notes) on purpose.

[Limey]

The only little thing I can add to what others have rightly said, is that maybe it's OK to read slowly, maybe even to never finish something, but if finished, that any need to finish distracts from the process. I agree that if things aren't engaging, then it needs to be questioned why you're struggling with it and maybe you should read something else, but I do also understand a desire to 'stretch yourself' and maybe learn to appreciate things that you struggle with, and also maybe to get the benefit of what you understand or appreciate on having read something, when the process itself was not as rewarding. Some paradoxes there maybe, but all the same...

But getting things read is a trap too. With something you like or not, simply deeply reading, engaging, reflecting a lot, stopping and mulling whatever it makes you think about for hours even, or maybe just going with it unconsciously and enjoying, is all good stuff. I mean maybe it's better to really appreciate one poem and its depth in your life than to read and 'know' thousands of them (I actually wish there was an option to hide the quantity of books for yourself on here, because that shouldn't be such a focus, if one at all. Is the process, the feeling, the 'depth of experience' or whatever you get from a book (or poem, piece of music, movie, painting, sculpture, visit to a place, acquaintanceship, etc., etc...) the value in it or is it having it finished, ticked off, or maybe also added to a tally?

I have too many books. I used to have an approach of buying one, taking whatever time I needed to read it, feeling I've read it properly and don't need to again, or even maybe sometimes not caring, I enjoyed it, I don't remember it all already, but that doesn't matter, and then giving it away. I slipped then into buying them often, and collecting them. I did this because of living in a country with lots of really cheap books, and then realising the prices were going up, plus it was an escape to do this collecting from some troubles in my life. I now have a great 'library', but the feeling is hard to avoid of having stuff that 'needs' to be read. This site can encourage that too. How many things on this 1001 list have I not read, and will I never have time to read in my life? But does that really matter? There is an infinity of things you will 'miss out on', that others get to read, see, do, know, whatever and that you won't (works the other way too, of course, maybe valuing your own experience more is important too). Maybe just one book can give you that experience, maybe even on many repeated reads, and maybe that is the best thing. Like swimming in the sea is great, but there's absolutely no need to swim in every one, and certainly wouldn't be if there was a list of 1001 of highly recommended ones.

People give good advice here about organising your time and planning realistically, and giving targets, etc., and surely a part of that is just feeling what really matters to you and what you really get from what. The focus on the 2 children is surely hugely rewarding too, and you wouldn't give too much of that up for more books read, plus the main aim is surely to optimize whatever you do (including the reading) so that it enhances your life, so maybe just small, slow, focused, relaxed, unhurried, 'non-quantitive' reading, just getting into that 'zone' of great aesthetic and/or informational (not sure these are separat things, understanding something has an aesthetic quality, the process of enjoying beauty is not devoid of information - just the other day I heard someone say that it is in fact highly -condensed information), and integrated into your life to not be a pressure on other things, but just that little you can do, at a pace that's relaxed and provides optimum immersion in the moment, is the right thing.

I guess I could have summed that all up with 'Don't worry, just read when you can and let go and enjoy, or just work at it at your own pace if you find it's hard work that you want to do and let the finishing come when it does, of if it does, and forget it'. I know you knew it anyway, but seemed worth thinking about and talking about.

[Judith]

Sandy wrote: "Colleen,

I wonder if you may be operating under a misconception. For those who really enjoy reading (as distinct from feeling you should read because it's good for you, or because you've been ass..."

Amen to all you said, Sandy.

[Colleen]

Thank you for the comments everyone, especially Mark's which spoke to me lots. I've chosen a few list books by authors who I love and have given in to blissful, in the zone reading. We have a lot going on here which hasn't helped and think the book I was reading which I couldn't click with made me frustrated as my time reading is my me time.

Thanks again. Xxx

[Stephanie "Jedigal"]

While I certainly love it when my reading is enjoyable, for me I do find some value in reading that I don't enjoy. I was one of those crazy students in college who actually READ - not skimmed - all the reading assignments. It certainly wasn't enjoyable quite often, but I had a purpose for it.

There's no reason why I can't read a novel that I don't 'enjoy' for a purpose also. Two that come to mind are Moby Dick (not really a long one, but not easy to get through) and Don Quixote. Both I wanted to read, not just because 'they' say they're classics. The thing with having experienced more and more of the classics as time goes on, is that it adds to the intertextuality that one is able to absorb in other newer possibly more enjoyable works. Both MD and DQ are referred to in books and movies constantly, and I suspect will continue to be. Maybe you could say that having actually read the books is not necessary to pick up the value from intertextuality, all you need to know is the CLIFF notes versions. But for me, I just like to experience the genuine article. My sister, who was a literature major, actually strongly recommended I NOT read MD, but I insisted, and yes she was right, it 'sucked' in many ways, but still I continue to be glad I've read it myself.

Anyway, just wanted to make the point that many of us might WANT to read even when we are not finding it ENJOYABLE per se. Nevertheless, I do appreciate everyone's remarks about NOT getting caught up being a completist. Sometimes I've felt it to be a pitfall too. I try to be aware of what's "going on with me" at any given time, and to choose my reading material (pulp fiction, literary fiction, nonfiction, magazines) according to my needs/wants at the time.

As far as strategies, one thing for me is I've taught myself to be willing to put a book down. I have found that some books WILL appeal to me at a later date. An example, I tried Wuthering Heights twice - made a serious effort both times - and just couldn't get into it, and put it down because I couldn't bear it. But the THIRD time - WOW, it totally worked for me, and it ended up NOT being something I just completed for completeness sake, or check off a list sake, but I actually really enjoyed it! I wasn't able to figure out what was different the third time, but I just keep that in mind.

With some books that are long, I might be both enjoying AND finding it tiresome. For instance, the aforementioned Don Quixote, and Atlas Shrugged. With both, especially DQ I felt they were unnecessarily long, and repetitive, that many scenes did not actually move the plot forward [too many examples given that all illustrated the same point]. At times, the plots were moving, but not moving FORWARD, instead of maybe spiralling upwards, they were circling around and around on the same plane for too long. [Like my rambling posts... :-0] I actually did find the writing of both to be enjoyable, it just drug at times. When I get to that point, where I'm both enjoying and not, I keep reading it, but spend less time with it - just enough to keep the characters and plot fresh in my mind so I don't feel lost when I do pick it up - and I cycle in something else that I enjoy more. I really do try to make sure I don't leave the big tome put down for too long, otherwise I would just have to start over, and feel like I'd 'lost' the time I already invested. But again, there are times that - for whatever reason - I feel are not the 'right' times for me to try these long ones. Of course, learning one's own preferences is one part of the adventure of reading!

Thanks to Mark for bringing up the contrast between being well-read [numbers of books] and the benefits to be gained by deeply understanding/experiencing a smaller number of works. I like to do both. I have a certain number of books that I re-read regularly (every couple years). Strangely some of these are pretty long [Gone With the Wind, Watership Down, Lord of the Rings]. Since I love these so well, and LOVE re-reading them (or I wouldn't do it), it's sad to me to think I might have put them down the first time just because they weren't thrilling me as much a good short plot-driven pulp fiction piece. I find that my re-reads always reveal something new, not necessarily that I 'missed' before. Also, re-reads take way less time. Like walking through the dark - easier when you're familiar with the road.

I don't know that I'll ever read all the list books, whether I call it 1001 or 1305 (+ however many more appear in future editions). When I have read more of the list, I suspect that I will find more and more choices that are less appealing to me. And maybe then I'll put down the list the way I put down a book that isn't working for me at a given moment. Maybe to pick up again later, maybe not.

Sounds like Colleen has come to peace with a 'strategy' that works for her today. We can always change up what we're doing at any time. And regardless what we're reading, there will always be more we WANT to read (for WHATever reason) than we can. It will always be TMBTLT, too many books, too little time.