Don’t read “enough” books?

[@UnohanaMash]

my issue is that I really really want to read so many books, but I often lack the motivation to just get one of them and start reading them. Maybe it’s because social media ruined my attention span to an extent, but do you have some tips?

[@tyke2026]

What helps me is to keep my phone as far away as I can when I’m reading, preferably in a different room. That way there’s way less of a chance I get distracted

[@RM-ih6fk]

I am exactly the same. I have only gotten into reading for about a year, but when I have reading slumps they're very bad, and it's taken me three months now to get through on 200 page book :(((. However I cut myself some slack for it because its a psychiatric non-fiction book and I've never read any book like that before. I usually can only manage to read about 7 pages before I go on my phone to scroll for a bit and then get back into the book but it's so unhealthy, my attention span has been ruined too.

[@UnohanaMash]

@@tyke2026 thanks! I’ll try that one out

[@anitas5817]

This is a huge issue!!

[@UnohanaMash]

@@anitas5817 I know, that’s why I wanna fix it

[@miumiuitgirl183]

I definitely agree with all these points but I'd just like to add one more which I've personally noticed, books especially good books make you question yourself and the world which isn't the case with highly personalized and curated social media entertainment and so we often take the mentally comfortable and easier path rather than actually reading.

[@williampdozier]

Great point

[@BookSquirrelUK]

I’m on book 7 of The Wheel of Time series and thoroughly enjoying it! The characters are really well written, which is what I particularly look for in novels.

[@anitas5817]

It’s so hard to let go of everything going on in my head and let myself go into the flow of a book. Some of it is probably age (it’s gotten harder as I’ve gotten older) but a lot of it is scrolling etc. My attention span has suffered! I really want to work on this. But I also don’t want to miss out on some of the great content online, and the opportunity to connect with others with similar interests, like on this channel, as an example.

[@bradenholmes8011]

One thing that has really helped me with this is every time I get the urge to pick up my phone and check social media, I instead grab my book and read. Even if it’s only one page at first, eventually it turned into 5-10 pages and even whole chapters for me. It’s not really the scrolling that I want, my brain just needed something to do. So forcing myself to read for a little while eventually made it second nature

[@taravincent9699]

I def agree with you on rereads. I’m so afraid of ruining my memory of that book if it was so overwhelmingly good. Same with watching a movie adaptation-I don’t want to ruin the vision of have of the book.

[@tj-co9go]

There's always more to explore. If you read all Shakespeare then you have Moliere and Strindberg and ancient Greek and Roman plays etc

[@williampdozier]

Yep! The list never ends

[@UpintheAirft.Zurich]

Exactly what you said, the books I want to read the most are the longest and the most complicated. It's a battle of will to read in a world of easy entertainment. It's like, why take a run to your destination if you can drive?

[@williampdozier]

Well said. I like this analogy

[@anitas5817]

I think trilogies are the perfect length to have a satisfying story arc. Same deal with limited TV series - 1-3 seasons but no longer. Ongoing book and TV series have the problem of “the writer(s) just kept writing” and don’t really have a tight satisfying narrative arc that develops and concludes appropriately. I agree with you, there are the very rare exceptions. Sometimes you just like something - I just liked Downton Abbey and I was fine with them just throwing out more stuff, just because I liked the atmosphere, not because it was great writing. I’m enjoying watching your channel develop!

[@williampdozier]

Really appreciate this note 🙏🏻

[@nikkivenable73]

I’m at that time in my life where I’m like, I’m going to run out of life before I read everything on my shelves not to mention everything else I want to read. I have a fire under me to continue reading as much as I can because, for me, leaving the world with so many stories left unread is very depressing. When I’m wanting to watch too much YT(which I always want to do), I remember my promise to myself to read instead. It’s really helped me cut down on screen time.

[@anwarbabran7438]

I appreciate your passion , it's so sincere , I am a new English Literature student , and one of the reasons that got me to go for it is I want to earn the skill of being able to read literature , so having people like you in my environment is such a bless

[@williampdozier]

Glad you’re enjoying these videos! Appreciate you 🙏🏻

[@krishmys]

Speaking of LOTR - I am left with History of Middle Earth, only 2nd book out of 13 books is pending to be bought (when the price comes down in Amazon, and as of now I am not ready yet to read).

[@kali5832]

I just picked up reading as a hobby a month ago and want some tips on how I can learn to read faster? Crime and punishment is the book I am currently reading and my goal was to do 30 pages a day but I realized It's been hard to keep that goal since that takes me like 2 hours or 4 mins a page roughly.

[@UnohanaMash]

my personal recommendation: don’t rush a book. Just read at your own pace. Whenever your body feels like it’s too much, put the book down and try to do something else. I personally had the experience that the more often I read, the longer I can keep reading in one session. It’s just like the gym: the first few times, it’s hard to lift a lot, but the more often you go, the more you will lift

[@hawthorn571]

listening to audiobooks while reading can help

[@williampdozier]

Agree with the audiobook tip!

[@kali5832]

@@hawthorn571 i will give this a try but will audiobooks eventually condition you to not be able to read without them? Do you use them for every book or only some?

[@tylerlevingston2771]

Tbh I miss a lot of stuff and didn’t realize everyone else is like that. Personally I like to use spark notes after reading or even while reading a chapter. However sometimes I disagree with their ideas about what something symbolizesz

[@AvatarSoul]

I mean as long as you are enjoying what you are currently reading and spending less time on the internet, then you should be good! Good Enough to say the least.

[@Creativethinker12]

Can I make a book recommendation? Act of Oblivion by Robert Harris.

[@tj-co9go]

This year, I finally felt like I read enough. It was between 20 and 30 books. But, it was only because I put special effort into that. One was Marx's Capital, first part, which took the most effort out of every

[@ghostofmethuselah]

Hey William, have you read Nabokov’s Pale Fire? I have a feeling you would truly dig it.

[@williampdozier]

I haven’t! But shall add it to my list

[@adambnyc4875]

Do you read one book at a time, or do you simultaneously engage with multiple books? I've got bookmarks in four volumes now. I think it's an old habit I developed as an English major -- from having to read books from three different classes at the same time.

[@williampdozier]

I usually have a few going at one time as well

[@belhypotheque6417]

Have you ever calculated how many books you read in a year multiplied by how many years you have yet to live? It’s scarey. Too many books and not enough time. 90% of this video made me anxious, the last 10% saved me. We have ‘digital free Sunday’ and I get most of my deep reading done then. Strictly no phones or tvs whatsoever. It’s a game changer.

[@williampdozier]

Love the digital-free Sunday idea, and glad grateful you watched the whole video 🙏🏻

[@playermartin286]

If you’re really planning to read the wheel of time let me give you some friendly advice: don’t, it’s not worth your time