Do you like to read?

Dumbasses, who are ignorant in 50 different ways, do not usually read.

Do you drive? I’ve listened to dozens of audio books just driving back and forth to work. Of course I have a 45 minute commute each way so it lends itself to that activity. Listening to Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow at the moment. Only advice I can give for getting into the habit of reading is to start with a shorter book so you get a feeling of accomplishment when you finish.

OP, if you don't mind, how old are you? Not asking to be cunty, but to come up with some better selections for you. Good for you for wanting to get back into it.

I was blessed with a Father who understood the dangers of television, who always admonished me to "turn off the TV and go read a book!". At first I did, grudgingly. Then I stumbled upon Jack London and O Henry and realized that one book often leads to another and then another. I was reading de Maupassant and Cervantes at age 10. I went to junior and senior high school when English teachers believed that your sole class was English and that the best way to appreciate English was by reading it. Shakespeare! Dickens! Hugo! Dumas! Tolstoy! Dostoievsky! Pasternak! The Brontes! Austen! The world beyond my reach beckoned me, educated me, enlightened me and amazed me. And my love affair with books continues to this day, as I still read 3, 4 books a week. Books that you can hold in your hand, none of that audio, Kindle or online shit for me.

If they don't have an unlimited supply of books in Heaven, fuck 'em, I ain't going.

[quote] Only advice I can give for getting into the habit of reading is to start with a shorter book so you get a feeling of accomplishment when you finish

That's my favorite part! That feeling of accomplishment. Especially after reading a very long book. It's just a very satisfying feeling.

OP, read Stephen King's short story "The Body", the one they made the movie "Stand By Me" out of. It is excellent, just long enough to grab you in, and short enough not to overtax you. Even if you saw the movie, the book is different enough not to disappoint. It is part of a collection of short stories called "Different Seasons". This book also has the story Shawshank Redemption was based on, as well as a really good but lesser known story "Apt Pupil"

You mentioned Sci-Fi - here is a mix of some really good ones, that are very easy reads, yet very engaging and will likely keep you going.

Dean Koontz - Watchers

Hyperion - Dan Simmons

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea - Jules Verne

I have loved to read for as long as I've known how. I can't imagine a life without reading books.

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Reading is fundamental.

Or so I'm told.

R4 says to get a better appreciation of English, read Tolstoy and Dostoevsky. Oh, dear.

(And honestly, people who are against watching TV weird me out as much as people who don’t read books.)

OP, here’s a book recommendation: The Three-Body Problem. Released in the past 5ish years but it’ll go down as a classic. Definitely a must-read for hard sci-fi fans.

Sometimes, cozying up with a good book, a warm fire, and a nice cup of whatever you like to drink, is the most relaxing thing in the world.

Then again, I'd probably fall asleep the minute I settled in.

I wish I picked up the habit of reading and enjoying books. I've tried, but after a while, it makes me sleepy. I don't finish the book.

Does AUDIBLE count the same as reading a book?

The last two books I read was "Bitchy Waiter" and one of Chelsea Handler's (at the time popular) paperbacks. This is quite a while back as I have not been on a vacation since. Regular day life I have too many distractions to sit down and get into a book. I blame my cellphone, reddit and netflix binges for sucking me back into not wanting to read these days.

The beach is really the only place that (for me) makes sense to have a book in hand, but I don't go any more.

Reading is great if you commute to work on the bus, a train, etc.

It's also good on airplanes.

However, there are so many other video and audio options nowdays, that reading is getting pushed to the side.

It will literally take a communications blackout, for humanity to get back to reading again.

Start with NPR’s Book Concierge. They do it every year (just Google) and you can sort their picks by genre, length, interests, and other criteria. I’ve found some of my favorite books that way.

Or go to your local library and ask the librarian for a few recs. They’re great at that and if you don’t like a particular choice, you’re not out any cash.

Classic sci-fi books: Foundation series by Isaac Asimov, Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein, Cities in Flight by James Blish, The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. LeGuin. Also interesting: the Darkover novels by Marion Zimmer Bradley and the Dragonriders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey.

Jules Verne and Edgar Allen Poe are fun to read; EAP also wrote a wide range of horror as well.

There are a huge range of freebies available to download and read on your cellphone or tablet. Even Amazon has a lot of free Kindle books and the app is free. For the real thing, try thrift stores, used bookstores are still around, garage sales, or even a LIBRARY.

I read cock books.

If its Sci fi you are after, some good contemporary ones are:

Iain M Banks culture series The Expanse series by James S. A. Corey Ted Chiang he does mainly short stories, 'Arrival' was an adaptation of one of his Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake trilogy ( but anything further back from her either)

also further back Ursula Le Guins back catalogue, Neil Stephenson for cyberpunk ( snowcrash) enjoy!

R4 our parents could have been married to each other. My mother forced me to read a book separate from school from 1st grade on till college. My first real book, at 7, was Alice in Wonderland. I haven't stopped reading since that time. By high school I was well read, and by college I was way ahead of most students in my classes. And I also agree that reading a foreign writer can improve your English in many ways. Joseph Conrad wrote in English although it was his second language. Sometimes a writer can teach you how to use your own language in different ways. as for you OP start reading a book on a subject that really interest you. I agree that after a few book your interest will open up. Good luck! I find that most men are not readers, and that most American women read shitty books. Don't waste hours on a book for written for idiots in a book club. " I don't read books because if they are any good they are going make into a mini-series"-Ouiser Boudreaux

[quote] Does AUDIBLE count the same as reading a book?

For those of you who might be tempted to say no, I wonder if you'd have the balls to confront a visually impaired person who said "Oh yeah, I read that book" when they listened to an unabridged recording?

OP - - "fiction" is such a broad range that it would help to narrow things down. If you're looking for gay books, you might start with Joe Keenan's work, incredibly funny, so you won't get bored and give up.

I wish I could read more. I have ADHD, which makes reading very challenging. I've tried some audio books but can only listen if I am doing other things simultaneously. It's also why I can only watch movies at home (and usually have to watch them 2 or 3 times to get everything).

i've read since childhood and i will die reading. i read constantly unless i am typing about reading. i read 3-4 books at a time. i cannot imagine a life without books.

it is not that i like to read. i HAVE to read. i tried 1 book on tape and almost had a breakdown. they are the worst....listening to someone....awful...i know tons of folks love 'em. i ain't one of 'em.

Readers are losers who can’t get dates.

I read constantly snd probably finish two books a week at least. I use the library for books - one good thing about that is if I start a book and don’t like it I just return it - I don’t feel compelled to finish it because I bought it. If you want to try some incredible gay fiction I suggest anything by Alan Holinghurst

I rarely read anything until after 9/11.

I would take the subway to work in NYC and after 9/11, many of the express subway lines went local. It would take an extra 30 minutes or so to get to work. That's when I started to read books and now I"ve become a voracious reader

Always been a voracious reader. I have a collection of ebooks on my computer plus my amazon books on the web and on my Fire tablet. And always finding new things to read.

I chalk it up to my great grandfather on my mom's side who taught me a bunch of stuff including how to solder wires together when I was about six years old. Plus both sets of grandparents realized keep me with good music and something to read and I was an angel.

Fast forward to the period just before I started my freshman year of high school. We went to orientation and were sent home with bagfuls of books to read over the summer. Stuff like Brave New World, 1984, Black Like Me, etc.

I rather like the time travel series about historians by Jodi Taylor - the St Mary's Chronicles.

A gay themed novel, 'Less'. Can’t think of the author though. Will post it if I can find it.

R30 Andrew Sean Greer. It’s wonderful.

I am like r24. I have to read. And not be read to. I don't like audiobooks at all. Dialogue is for plays and TV dramas (99% of movies aren't worth seeing, so I don't).

Why some people hate to read:

R33 - but that's academic writing, and the OP is asking about sci-fi and fiction.

R30 thank you. I enjoyed it very much.

Same here, r24 and r32. I have to read and since for me it is such a pleasure i do not find it particularly virtuous. My parents liked to read, but never as much as I did. And i hate audiobooks or reading on a screen, has to be paper. Strangely i have been reading more as i see less tv and movies as I cannot concentrate as much aswith a book (start reaching for the phone). So i go to bed and read for 2 hours or so.

The question of op’s age is a good one. If you don’t have reading habits it will be more difficult. And why would you want to?

I would suggest starting with a good unputdownable whodunnit.

Oh poo! You can’t read!

Then he can skip it, r34. I'm sure he thanks you for your buttinskyism, though.

I learned how to read by reading Penthouse and Hustler.

I spend hours on reddit every day, sad to see /watchpeopledie go away, damn you christchurch fuckface.

I'm always reading a book, but these days I listen in my car, even on trips around town.

I usually can find an interesting book that I can check out and download for free from my public library, but if not, there's always Audible or Apple Books.

Books are my best friend. Always been a raging bibliophile.

R42 you are right- a book is always a loyal friend- I have a book with me where ever I go- even in the car. You never know when you will have to sit in your car. Once I started reading while I waited for the heavy rain to stop and I got so engrossed that I didn't notice when it did stop. As a lawyer I am always reading in court. I would rather read than anything else. We had this great oak tree in my yard when I was a kid. On Saturday morning my mother would put a blanket and a soda outside for me and I would read under that tree. I read" To Kill A Mockingbird", " Moby Dick", "Winesburg, Ohio", and lots more. My mother made me read every classic book I watched as a film version . So I read tons of Dickens, Hugo, and every playwright you can name. I believe that reading is like breathing, and my mother taught me how to breath correctly!

For those of you who read e-books, do you mostly use an actual Kindle, or do you use another device? My phone is good for a short story here and there with some down time, but I don't find it ideal for an actual book (novel).

“If you go home with somebody, and they don't have books, don't fuck 'em!” ― John Waters

I can't imagine someone who doesn't have a book or even a magazine in their place......I love true stories, auto/biographies..... I love poetry,....Whitman, Langston Hughes...... and classics....Stranger in a Strange Land, Electric KoolAid Acid Test, John C Lilly is fascinating, Alan Watts, who wrote brilliantly for being a stone alcoholic......too many to name....

Books by my bedside, books in the bathroom, books in my car, books everywhere....if only they could pay rent.

Although it's Guy de Maupassant, we just say Maupassant. Not "de" Maupassant. If you want to use "de" you'll have to say the full name Guy de Maupassant.

While I was in high school and college I rarely read anything beyond what I was assigned or expected to read. Afterwards I would read regularly. As I got older I would read more and more. I currently have 10 new books that I own that I need to read. I have to buy less until I catch up.

Honest question: What's so virtuous about reading, versus watching a movie on television?

If you watch the movie, isn't it the same thing as reading the book?

People act like being a reader makes you instantly more intelligent than someone who doesn't read, and I think that's just ridiculous.

[quote] I use the library for books - one good thing about that is if I start a book and don’t like it I just return it - I don’t feel compelled to finish it because I bought it.

That's part of the problem with books. Once you read it, chances are you aren't going to read the book again, so it just sits and collects dust.

That's what bookshelves are for, r49.

Bless your heart, R48.

R44, I've gradually adapted to using almost any device for reading, though I don't use my laptop for casual reading. This year, This year, I bought myself a reconditioned Kindle paperwhite on sale. It's lightweight, adjustable, and gives me access to the hundreds of books I have accumulated over the past 10 years. It's great for reading, but I'll use my cell phone during breaks, waiting for appointments, traveling, and such.

The are specific books, and authors (Agatha Christie, for one), where the "real thing" is important for full appreciation of my reading time.

Not more virtuous at all, r48. If you are happy with tv and movies, by all means. But it is completely different experience. Though not more morally virtuous books estimulate your imagination, language and even rationality. It is less passive. Some say that reading fiction makes you more emphatic as well. Also, more articulate. But is doesn’t make you more intelligent.

Oops ^ r36, not r34

R44, I bought a Nook ereader in 2011 and switched to the Kindle Paperwhite in 2015. I read on my phone occasionally but e-ink readers are by far my preferred device for any type of reading that's longer than a few minutes. Sometimes I send long online articles to my Paperwhite for a more comfortable read.

That Nook reader brought me back to reading. I go through streaks of reading and not reading even now, but the portability, font management, access to library books, etc make reading an easier "to do."

My biggest reading kryptonite is the internet.

I recently bought a refurbished Kindle as well, the previous generation one, as I don't care about Bluetooth Audible books, waterproofing, etc.

R44: Mostly on my Fire Tablet or on the computer. The computer has a bigger amount of ebooks on it.

Thank you, r46. I did not know that.

r44 I use an actual Kindle only. I have the Kindle E-reader, 6" Glare-Free Touchscreen Display, 7th Generation. I need to have a light on to read it.

I hope you guys are downloading free library ebooks!

Oh, 'deed I am, r60. They're remarkably current these days.

[quote]Readers are losers who can’t get dates.

[quote]I learned how to read by reading Penthouse and Hustler.

[quote]If you watch the movie, isn't it the same thing as reading the book?

MAGA!

R48 Snobbery is all. My favorite people are those you try to have a ice breaker conversation with (usually work, group setting or bar) mention a TV show that we are all into and there is always that one person who has to say "Well, I don't OWN A TV" or "The books are soooooo much better." Fuck you man, I don't have time to sit down and read nor do I have the attention span, plus I like to cook/clean/play with my kitties while I'm watching whatever the fuck I'm watching, also it has to be dead ass quiet for me to focus while reading, which rarely is the case in public.

R63 I know that some of the foregoing posts let you off the hook but, motherfuck, you’re an idiot. I always wonder who the underperformers are that make not much more than a living wage and seem cool with it. What their lives are like. If they’re conscious that their own stupidity is their albatross. You’ve satisfied my dull curiosity. You confess to needing constant external stimulation to stay intact. How pathetic is that? Cannot grasp a concept that isn’t played out in pictures. How’d you finish undergrad (didn’t)? Grad school (huh)? You earn your nothing future each morning you open your unseeing eyes. Someday, there will be walls and people like you will live outside of them (with your kitties). I long for that day.

R64, that's some generalizing there...Have a friend who graduated from the same undergrad and grad schools as I did. She was the better student and earns more money than I do now (we both earn over 6 figures). She hasn't finished a book in years. She has two small boys and finding time to read in silence and peace is a chore. Sure, she could carve out time for it if it was a priority but other forms of entertainment are easier. Doesn't mean she's dumb, uneducated or has a dead end job.

R48 watching television or a movie is not the same as reading a book. And to be totally snobby about it - yes people who read are smarter. Part of the problem with Americans is that we don't read and therefore are informed only by talking heads. An educated people wants to get information from various sources to make an intelligent decision. One of the reason we have had a series of poor presidents since JFK is because people have been charmed by images. If you read you will have far more words in your wheelhouse, and far more words to use when you think. Reading will also improve your attention span, your ability to notice detail, and your sense of accomplishment. Television is a drug- meant to engage you but not inform you or leave you with questions. Books are the opposite. So when you think reader are better you are right. I have never met a dumb person who read.

Everybody likes to read.

R67, sadly, they don’t.