Why can't I read?

[Rip the Jacker]

Everytime I order a book from Amazon and receive it... I start getting into it (reading it). I can't read that fast, so around 20-30 pages+ on the first day is the usual. Afterwards, I lose interest and just put it on a shelf. This goes for E-Books, too.

Why the hell can I never finish a book? Or get through half-way? Has anyone else gone through this?

WTF?

 

[dighn]

what kind of books are these? for pleasure or for a purpose?

 

[Rip the Jacker]

Originally posted by: dighn
what kind of books are these? for pleasure or for a purpose?

All kinds. Computer books (javascript, etc.) .. fiction.. non-fiction anything.

 

[TheChort]

you just gotta push yourself to do it
kind of like anything else in life, once the initial motivation wears off, you have to push yourself

i feel that way not just with books, but exercise, work, and even things as abstract as relationships
that's why smokers know its easy to quit for a few days, but anything longer really becomes a problem, and its the same reason why you cant read past the first tenth of your book

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

What about things besides books? Do you have any problems finishing other tasks that take longer than a day?

 

[Rip the Jacker]

Originally posted by: Fullmetal Chocobo
What about things besides books? Do you have any problems finishing other tasks that take longer than a day?

Yeah, I think it goes with things other than books as well, just daily tasks.

 

[IGBT]

..I read in bed before I sleep. I end up reading 2 or more books a month this way.

 

[Sc4freak]

I've never had this kind of problem, personally, I often find it harder to stop rather than to keep going. You might have a short attention span, but I don't know what you can do about it.

 

[Jeff7]

I'm the same way. I did manage to read 1984 over the summer, but that was because I would read it during breaks at the warehouse I worked at, when there really was nothing better to do.
Without that, I almost never read books. My main reading nowadays is either textbooks, notes from class, homework, or Scientific American, and I'm getting worried about my continued subscription to the latter. Their ads are the cause of my worry - they're advertising more and more outright trash. Things like those electric heaters with a copper tube of silicone that magically overrides the laws of thermodynamics to provide more heat into a room than a normal electric heater. But on the other hand, part of me does take pleasure from watching the stupid being separated from their money.

 

[flawlssdistortn]

Look, you can't read computer books like you read a novel. You need to have some specific reason why you're reading it, and specific questions you want answered.

 

[altonb1]

Perhaps you have adult ADHD?

 

[SlitheryDee]

I've noticed that I have less interest in reading for pleasure than I used to, but I have no trouble finishing a book after I get it started.

Lately I read a good book by R. A. Heinlein, and I've been on a Heinlein reading kick ever since then. After I've read everything he's written I suppose I'll enter another reading slump until I happen across something that catches my attention again.

You either need ritalin, or a really really good book that keeps you so caught up in the story that you'll put off everything else to keep reading it. If you find such a book I recommend sticking with the same author for a while to keep yourself interested.

 

[Rip the Jacker]

up

 

[Compton]

Its definately ADD. You need pillz.

 

[pontifex]

you must not be interested in what you're reading. if i find a book thats interesting to me, i can't put it down. if i don't find it interesting, i can't concentrate because i keep thinking of something that is interesting.

 

[imported_Rat]

Originally posted by: Rip the Jacker
Everytime I order a book from Amazon and receive it... I start getting into it (reading it). I can't read that fast, so around 20-30 pages+ on the first day is the usual. Afterwards, I lose interest and just put it on a shelf. This goes for E-Books, too.

Why the hell can I never finish a book? Or get through half-way? Has anyone else gone through this?

WTF?

I do the same thing. I have a shelf full of 20% read books. It takes weeks to finish one.

 

[jimbob200521]

I got a headache when I first read this thread title

I'm the same way, though. If I don't quickly find a book interesting, I usually cannot read it. I can sometimes force myself to do it, but then it takes the fun away from reading the book.

 

[rudder]

I had the DaVinci Code laying next to the bed for months. I finally gave up on it and went to see ithe movie when it came out.

 

[DaShen]

I do that too sometimes. I eventually finish reading them though.

It usually happens when I read 3-4 books at a time. Sometimes I will find a book that I can't put down and I will solely read that, but usually I am reading 3-4 books at a time.

I am reading Plato's Laws, The Poisonwood Bible, Rumors: of An Invisible World, BIO 101, and the MCAT review right now (I am not in school right now).
I am finding it hard to put down 3 of those books (BIO 101 and Plato's Laws I only read on occassion). So I just manage them by reading them slower (a chapter from one book, and then I will put that one down and read a chapter or two from the other book... and so on).

 

[lokiju]

Originally posted by: Rip the Jacker
Everytime I order a book from Amazon and receive it... I start getting into it (reading it). I can't read that fast, so around 20-30 pages+ on the first day is the usual. Afterwards, I lose interest and just put it on a shelf. This goes for E-Books, too.

Why the hell can I never finish a book? Or get through half-way? Has anyone else gone through this?

WTF?

I'm reading a 1,000 plus page novel right now, so can't relate

Guess it's just a lack of interest for you, but for me, once I start reading a book I can't stop until I'm done.