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In 2023 I read 15 books.
My usual rate: 60-100.
I think I've lost the ability to read anything longer than a pithy essay on Substack 😭
I read essays, blog posts, articles, posts.
But, but ... I feel that I'm losing something with this.
It disturbs me that I can't even focus long enough to complete a chapter. And that all that social media blog content was affecting my mood somehow.
Am I blathering?
How do I regain my reading abilities? 😅

@liztai

Joining TheStoryGraph helped me. I've enjoyed the graphs they give to show me my reading trends. I did challenges for a couple years and boosted my reading. Now I've decided to listen to podcasts instead of audiobooks, because the podcasts are really helpful to me so my number of books is going to go down this year. As long as I keep the reading habit with a mix of fiction and nonfiction, I'll be happy.

Elizabeth Tai | 戴秀铃 🇲🇾

@ajlewis2 That's interesting! Only worried that the challenges would make me more perfectionist about it haha

I think maybe I'm forcing myself to read things I don't want - maybe my brain wants essays now and it's not a bad thing. However, I need to be discerning cos I'm reading far too many that complains about the world rather than celebrate it ...

@liztai @ajlewis2
Since I don't really read nonfiction, I'll suggest a topic that's fascinating to me: Neuroplasticity!

@EllenInEdmonton @liztai

Ellen, neuroplasticity sounds fascinating to me, too. Do you have a suggestion from something you've read? I'm interested.

@ajlewis2 @EllenInEdmonton I read the Brain that Changes Itself. It's pretty good 😊

@liztai @EllenInEdmonton

Looks good, Liz. It's available in ebook at my library, so I put it on hold. 427 pages is a long read, but there may be a lot to say on the topic. And it looks like there are lots of stories of people who have experienced this. Stories make such reading more engaging.

@ajlewis2 @liztai
Anita, I've mainly read short articles online and watched YouTube videos. Still, anything that reminds me that we can keep growing our brains and strengthening our neural connections is great news for me!!

@liztai

I see what you mean about challenges and perfectionism. Yes, that is why I stopped doing a challenge to read a certain number of books this year. Sounds like that would not be a good thing for you.

I'm reading a short book on Discernment now. Trying to be discerning myself, so I'm familiar with that problem. 🙂