You ever...?

[jaynebosco]

I am having a real problem getting into one book right now. It doesn't matter what I am reading, I just can't seem to get into book and it really is bothering me. I love to read, don't get me wrong, but I just can't seem to concentrate on anything I am reading at the present time. I pick up one book and read it for a bit and then all of a sudden I get distracted and pick up another book and the same thing happens all over again and as a result I have a bunch of books that have been started and nowhere near completed. I am wondering if this has happened to anybody else and if it has, what can I do? Do you have any suggestions? It's incredibly annoying.

 

[scooter13]

It has happened to me recently, as a matter of fact. Part of it probably comes from taking so much time to care for my son (2 1/2 months old and rather cranky when he's awake). Unfortunately my advice it's very original. Just keep trying different books. Though I wouldn't take too long reading to see what happens. (I don't know how far you get into a book before you put it down.) That is something that I realized a couple of years ago when the same thing happened. I would get a long way into a book before I realized that I just didn't care. So I decided that if I got into that funk again, if the book didn't grab me right away, I put it back on the shelf. Maybe not very fair to that author or the book. But to help get me out, I figured it was best to find something that really grabbed me. After all, there is always time later when you get your "groove" back to read those books that you set aside.

Hope this helps.

 

[jaybe]

Yep. I do it all the time. I won't force myself to read if the book hasn't got me by the third page, sometimes I get halfway through.

I can go months without finishing one, then pick up four in a row which are great.

I do mean to try again with some of them - I never do though.

 

[steffee]

I am having a real problem getting into one book right now. It doesn't matter what I am reading, I just can't seem to get into book and it really is bothering me. I love to read, don't get me wrong, but I just can't seem to concentrate on anything I am reading at the present time. I pick up one book and read it for a bit and then all of a sudden I get distracted and pick up another book and the same thing happens all over again and as a result I have a bunch of books that have been started and nowhere near completed. I am wondering if this has happened to anybody else and if it has, what can I do? Do you have any suggestions? It's incredibly annoying.

Yes, all the time. I'm always putting books aside that I've started and just didn't want to finish at that time, and books that I've started and just didn't want to finish at all. There's no point reading something you don't want to read, for whatever reason, so I just keep trying until I find something I do want to read. But yeah, sometimes I can read almost anything, sometimes it's gotta be very very specific.

 

[pontalba]

Its happened to everybody....so don't worry, its a phase. But maybe it would help to pick up a book that is purely escapist. No message, hardly any deeper meaning, and read the surface. In other words nothing you really have to concentrate on.

I say that after a steady diet of Nabokov for the last, what, 3 months? Oh well, do as I say, and not as I do!

 

[SFG75]

Jaybe is right. Just keep plugging away. I try to aim for about 75 to 100 pages a night, but if I do 20, so be it. Life happens.

 

[Stewart]

I pick up one book and read it for a bit and then all of a sudden I get distracted and pick up another book and the same thing happens all over again and as a result

Er, your problem is that you get distracted too easily. I don't know what is distracting you, as you don't say, but I wouldn't blame it on the reading but it's most likely your surroundings. If the TV is on, turn it off; if the radio is on, turn it off; if your computer is on, turn it off; if the curtains are open, close them; etc.

 

[ruby]

Er, your problem is that you get distracted too easily. I don't know what is distracting you, as you don't say, but I wouldn't blame it on the reading but it's most likely your surroundings. If the TV is on, turn it off; if the radio is on, turn it off; if your computer is on, turn it off; if the curtains are open, close them; etc.

We all get distracted at some point in our lifes while reading
But as you can see stewart is the perfect man who doesnt

 

[abecedarian]

Stewart's right though. It isn't always the reading material; sometimes we all get distracted. I think of it as sensory overload. Besides, he didn't say this was the only way to overcome this issue..

 

[angerball]

This used to happen to me quite frequently, usually when I had a lot of books on my TBR pile, and I would want to read them all at once.
It hasn't happened to me since I've started going to the library instead of buying books. Just the idea that I have the books for only about 3 weeks makes me just pick one up and read it through, instead of having a lot of 'false starts'.

 

[jaynebosco]

This used to happen to me quite frequently, usually when I had a lot of books on my TBR pile, and I would want to read them all at once.
It hasn't happened to me since I've started going to the library instead of buying books. Just the idea that I have the books for only about 3 weeks makes me just pick one up and read it through, instead of having a lot of 'false starts'.

Yeah, but my problem is that I borrow too many books from the library; think I have about 20 books that I have currently signed out from the library at the present time

 

[zen]

when that happens to me, i just forget about reading for a couple of weeks or so, and just do something else.. then i pick up the same books i couldn't read previously, and enjoy them... it especially happens to me after i have finished a book, or trilogy, series, whatever, and then just can't settle into another 'world' or another genre afterwards..

 

[angerball]

Yeah, but my problem is that I borrow too many books from the library; think I have about 20 books that I have currently signed out from the library at the present time

I can only take out 8 books at a time, but usually only take out about 4, so I don't get overwhelmed.

 

[angerball]

when that happens to me, i just forget about reading for a couple of weeks or so, and just do something else..

Forget about reading for a couple of weeks? Unheard of!

 

[slaughterhigh]

like OMG!!!

 

[zen]

(chuckling quietly to myself) sorry to have caused you both so much distress!

 

[ilusyonada]

I pick up one book and read it for a bit and then all of a sudden I get distracted and pick up another book and the same thing happens all over again and as a result I have a bunch of books that have been started and nowhere near completed. I am wondering if this has happened to anybody else and if it has, what can I do? Do you have any suggestions? It's incredibly annoying.

it always happens to me. what i do is get an old favorite, read it again and then go back to the book i started previously and hopefully i get to finish it.

 

[Literati]

I am having this exact problem right now...

I started reading "Lovely Bones"- got about half way through it and was just not into it anymore... it's not the book itself, it's me.

Then I started reading "Naked Lunch" and only got through the first chapter on that one.

Now i'm just sitting idle... reading nothing- feel like i'm in a heavy fog

 

[MonkeyCatcher]

This rarely happens to me. I don't really like the idea of not finishing a book, so I'll usually push on until the end weither I'm enjoying it or not. I think I do it so that I can say "Yes, I've read the book, I didn't like it, and here's why.." and be taken seriously.

 

[jaynebosco]

I finally finished a book this month (the fines on the book were acruing; it was about $2.10 when I brought it back) and will probably finish another couple (signed out Brokeback Mountain; certainly will be able to get through that in about a day ).

I think it's because I am on the computer way too much and can't seem to turn it off and am watching too much TV. I actually sat down and finished the remaining 100 pages of Arthur & George today and actually quite enjoyed it and realized that I could have finished in a few days, if I had just read the darn thing. Thanks for your suggestions. Continue the discussion cause apparently I am not the only one that this has happened to.