I joined my first book club this year. It’s been interesting; so far the books haven’t been totally to my taste, but at least I’m trying new things that way. And the discussion has been fun! I think our most fun discussion was for a book that we all ending up not liking, actually!
I’ve recently started setting myself goals. I used to read non-stop before university. During my undergraduate degree I slowed down to finishing only a few books per year. By the time I started my PhD, where basically my entire 9-5 is reading and analysing dense 40-page mathematical papers, I’d completely stopped reading for pleasure.
Last year I set myself a 1 book per week goal and found that I was actively factoring reading time into my daily schedule, which I really appreciated. I managed to get through a lot of my reading bucket list this way, but at the end of the year I decided I wouldn’t set that kind of goal again. I ended up powering through some novels that I would’ve preferred to DNF purely because it was Thursday and starting a new novel would set me back.
This year I haven’t set a hard goal. I’ve decided I am happy with one book per month, and if I’m reading properly then I blaze past that. I’m very much enjoying the ability to augment my main reading with other reading. I’m currently participating in a book club over at !lovecraft which I find very rewarding and I wouldn’t have had the spare reading time to participate in this time last year.
I’ve noticed myself completing books I would usually DNF when I’ve participated in more formal reading challenges before. I didn’t want to go through the hassle of finding another book that fit the prompt so I just stuck with them.
Fun, feel-good fantasy stories, like Legends and Lattes. Bonus points if there’s a heist, a fun group of quirky characters, or well-built romance story.
Anything by Stephen King, for me. I also like quick-paced techy/sci-fi novels for when I’m in the mood for something easier. I’m a re-reader, so I will sometimes pick up something I’ve already read and enjoyed before.
I usually go to short stories, or old sword and sorcery novellas. For the former my go to stories are Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos, Robert E Howard’s Conan, and Isaac Asimov’s Robots. For the latter I prefer Michael Moorcock’s Elric of Melniboné, Fritz Leiber’s Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, and Jack Vance’s Dying Earth. If I’m feeling uninspired or experiencing a block, knocking out a few of these stories always sets me straight. They take next to no time to read and are great fun. I don’t get tired of rereading them.
Your local library probably has a subscription to the first, maybe even to the $econd. Granta’s a quarterly and I can’t say I’ve ever seen it in a library but its been around a long time and back issues are readily available @used bookstores.
Trashy romance novels, particularly fantasy or occult (I normally read sci Fi and fantasy so this is the “I want to read but I can’t focus” side of that). Are they well written? Uh, no. Are they entertaining and easy? Yep.
Literature
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