It’s a cost benefit calculation. Reading for me is pretty costly and although I did a LOT of reading, I never got the feeling of being “absorbed into a story” or “can’t put the book down”. It’s hard for me to “accept” fiction bc I inevitably find details that don’t make sense to me (e.g., character making dumb decisions bc of romantic interest)
In high school, I had plenty of leisure time and relatively low stress so I enjoyed taking the time to read. It was also highly complimentary to what I was studying in school to read history stuff.
In uni, my focus shifted and it’s more productive to either think about research, turn brain off (YouTube) or explore other things like cooking or learning Russian. Even “turn brain off” content is stratified. For example, watching shows like House are costly bc I have to pause frequently to google the medical stuff and I find it hard to stay engaged with TV shows with clear plot lines
I enjoy putting myself in the story rather than waiting for it to absorb me. It’s like the thought experiment where people are asked to imagine they won an Olympic event. Do you see yourself on the podium as part of the crowd, or do you see yourself looking at the crowd from the podium?
I get it. Turn brain off for me is a rainy day, an empty house, a good book, and a cup of tea.
I’ve never seen something I agree with more in my life haha. “Letting go” is the hardest part for me, and is why I try to stick to non-fiction. I also enjoy me some House
I guess that’s part of my issue. I have a hard time relating to characters or settings
It’s funny, because it’s easy for me to create imagery for fashion or jewellery design or to image tastes for recipe/menu creation. Maybe it’s the “personal” element. I never see myself when I’m doing this imagery. none of the stuff I design would look good on me
I’ve been getting into presidential biographies a lot recently. I recently picked up “Woodrow Wilson and the Progressive Era”. I’ve heard really good things overall about author Henry F. Pringle. He was a very prolific historian in the 1900s, and he has a biography about Teddy Roosevelt.
edit: The biography I linked is also a Pulitzer Prize winner, so it’s gotta be good.
Dude those are some nice books. Farmer Lee Jones looks like the nicest guy you could ever meet. I like the “The Origins of Cooking” one the most out of those. If “Recreational Drugs” was a hardcover I’d like it more.
I go through phases. One summer I read all of Ian Fleming’s 007 novels and short stories. One summer it was vampires (not Twilight), another Sasquatch horror novels.
About 5 years ago I read the Second World Wars by Victor Davis Hanson. I followed that with Rick Atkinson’s Liberation Trilogy. Realizing, while reading those books, I knew nothing about Stalin, I must have read 5-6 biographies concerning him. During that phase I thought Franklin D. Roosevelt was vague to me. I read 2-3 life biographies (maybe), then FDR at War, a three volume series.
Right now? After reading Chernow’s Grant, it greatly improved my attitude toward Grant, I have read other biographies on him. But, out of that, I have become fascinated with George Gordon Meade. Where will Meade lead me? Gettysburg of course, but I think Meade is one of the States’ forgotten and underappreciated heroes. And misconstrued on top of it.
Concurrently I have been reading about the Episcopalians. I am somewhat religionless at the moment.
This is where I’m at interest-wise right now, so I’ll definitely look into those! What was your “attitude” towards Grant previously? Have you ever read “The Growth of the American Republic” by Morison, Commager & Leuchtenburg? It’s a comprehensive history of the entire country from early 1500s to the 1980s. I’m about 3/4 of the way through its 1800 pages right now.
I have not read that, but I will find it, and read it. I think Chernow pulled me out of the Lost Cause Myth fog concerning Grant. The Duke of Wellington of The New World is what he was called in England.
I think it just needs to be prioritized by the parents. Bed-time stories, library trips, seeing mom and dad reading, letting them pick books for gifts, ect.
