Why do you read? I’ve lost my mojo, inspire me, please.

[BarrelOfOtters]

I’ve lost my reading mojo. Age, eyesight, menopause, reduced attention span. I used to always have 3 books on the go. I’d finish a book in a week. And everything, classics, to crime to modern novels. It just had to be well written.

why do you read?

Reading in my relaxation, my down time. I don't watch much TV. I rarely go to sleep without reading a couple of chapters.

I have occasionally got out of the habit, normally because I get stuck in a book that I'm not enjoying. I now just stop reading it if I'm not enjoying something and read something easy instead.

Come and join us on the 50 book thread OP! Lots of book chat will make you want to get reading.

www.mumsnet.com/talk/what_were_reading/4638699-50-books-challenge-2022-part-six?page=1

In 2020 I set myself a New Years resolution to read 24 books by the end of the year. I was doing okay and then found audiobooks and my world changed. I read and listened to over 140 books in 2020.

I have a fairly solitary job most of the time and I just listened and listened. It made being on my own much nicer. I still read actual books ( I sure do collect them ) I found that I get much more immersed into a story listening to it. Not done as well this year as I’m only on 83 so far. But I have been on a sabbatical from work.

I find a read a good book, then I'm not sure what to go onto next so I end up reading nothing for a while. Also guilty of then spending too much time scrolling through my phone so then it's too late to start reading or I feel all read out!

I tend to try getting back into it with an easy read, short story or something I read a long time ago but enjoyed, or I try to start a series of books so you roll from one to the next and so on.

I also find the winter months are when I read the most, like curling up with a book, during the good weather I'm usually out doing something.

Also like someone else has said I've got into audio books, so far I have only listened to things I've read before,.so if in not completely paying attention it doesnt matter too much, but I too work on my own so it's just something for company rather then the radio.

@WhatsTheEffingPoint when people say they cannot concentrate on audiobooks I always say to start off my listening to something u have read before.
That’s exactly what I did. I downloaded the first Harry Potter book. Went all the way to the end. I then did the hunger games and then the maze runner. By the end of that I started on other books and am fine. It does really work.

@Paranoidandroidmarvin Ha ha Harry Potter was my first and I did the whole series too. 😄

I’ve gone back in time and started re-reading old books I enjoyed in the past.
I bought myself The Shell Seekers.

I think it's best to set aside a time of day/night. It only needs to be a few minutes say 10. Read for those 10 minutes and then stop. Slowly build up.

I have read since I was a child and love getting lost in a different place and time. But have had phases of reading less when I just couldn't concentrate.

Try reading some of your old favourites maybe? I recently read A Traveller In Time by Alison Uttley which was a childhood favourite, it was so nice to go back to it.

I read because if I don’t, I spend all my down time scrolling. I started keeping a list of the books I read in 2019, I don’t rate/review them, it’s a pure list, and now I have a few years’ records, I’m motivated to beat my total each year.
This has been my most successful year; I’ve read more already than I have in total in any previous year, and I think partly due to using a habit tracker - it reminds me daily to take my vitamins, floss my teeth, and read something. If I read for 5-10 minutes even so I can tick it off, I feel more motivated to continue and read a bit more.
As my aim was to read something, rather than doom scrolling, I’ve read a lots of what I would previously have not bothered with, lots of ‘cosy mystery’ type books that can be quite formulaic, but undemanding; they almost keep me going between books that take more concentration.

I read because that's what I do. It's as basic to me as checking the weather or snacking.

The two main reasons for reading, in my opinion, are to learn something or to be entertained. For me, both. Additionally, I bring reading with me when I'm out of the house (usually magazines), partly to keep me from impatiently losing my temper when I'm stuck waiting.

Eyesight can need be a problem, though. Is your eyesight fixable?