Reading Attention Deficiency...

[InksGuy]

HELP!

I saw some posts about books in RB, and it reminded me of a problem I've been having for more or less the last year.

I can no longer read books.

It happens when I pick up a book. I find the time to read the first chapter or so, but nothing seems to be able to hold my attention. So I put it down. It wouldn't bother me, but I was reading something in the region of six books- novels- a week at one point. And now I have a growing pile of fiction that I'm just not interested in. There are more interesting things to do.

During my last year of High School, I read Lord of the Rings in its entirety in one night... well... 17 hours, give or take. Minus the appendices. The point is I didn't put it down until there was nothing left to read (and I was flagging a little after being awake for approximately 26 hours). This was at 7am the next day. And then I went to school. That's the scale of it.

I don't want to grow out of books! I can't be, in fact. They must just be boring books... anyway, what this ramble has wound up to is:

I'd like some suggestions of books that held your attention completely. "Impossible to put down" is the phrase, I think. Specifically novels. Fiction. But other than that, any author, any genre. It just has to be riveting.

Better still, if this has happened to you, how did you get out of it? Are you still there? HELP!

[WalkingTarget]

Dan Brown writes what I categorize as "page turners". They are not "good" books, but they keep your interest and make (everybody I know who's read them) keep reading.

Granted, if you know anything about the subject matter they'll really bug you (art history or Knights Templar conspiracy stuff for Angels & Demons and The Da Vinci Code, cryptography for Digital Fortress, etc.) I'm serious about this, if you know about the subject matter his blatant errors will annoy you a lot (I got through A&D and DVC ok, but I'm not into art history, DF just got on my nerves :smallfurious:).

However, they're written in a grab-your-attention-and-hold-it style that keeps them moving along, which I think is what you were looking for.

[Blackfang108]

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

Elantris by Brandon Sandersen.

[RTGoodman]

I've had the same sort of thing, but I think that's because most of the stuff I've tried reading lately has been, well, sub-par.

Some things I've read (or re-read) lately that make me want to not put the book down:

-Ender's Game - most have read it a long time ago, but I know I just read it for the first time last winter and I literally had it finished in one night.

-If you haven't read them, try checking out the original Dragonlance Chronicles trilogy (Dragons of Autumn Twilight, Dragons of Winter Night, and Dragons of Spring Dawning). Sure they're generic D&D-based fantasy that my fantasy literature professor called "popcorn books," but they're a good story with cool characters in a really cool world.

-I haven't read any of his stuff in a while, but I'll second WalkingTarget's Dan Brown recommendation - say what you want about his stuff not being good literature, but the man can write a good story. I liked Angels and Demons better than The DaVinci Code, but either is a pretty good read.

-Also, if you still find you can't get through novels, try picking up some short story collections. I recommend either of Neil Gaiman's (Smoke and Mirrors and Fragile Things), the Solaris Book of New Fantasy (should be easy to find at your local bookstore), and some of Datlow and Windlings older Year's Best Fantasy and Horror compilations (the one I've got is the 12th collection from 1999 and is full of good stories).

[snoopy13a]

I'm betting that you start to read the books but soon stop in favor of doing something else. If you want to just read then you can go to a park, library, etc where reading will be your only option. This is essentially how I forced myself to study in college :smalltongue:

[streakster]

Terry Pratchett's Night Watch. Jim Butcher's White Knight.

[Hunter Noventa]

Ciaphas Cain, HERO OF THE IMPERIUM! (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CiaphasCain)

Seriously. Get the omnibus, best $12 i ever spent.

[Sneak]

I know how you feel. I haven't really been able to read that much lately. Some of it is just that I don't have much time, but it's also been harder for a book to keep my interest.

Anyway, If on a winter's night a traveler, by Italo Calvino, is a damn good book, and it's pretty much the best book ever for ADD people. Seriously.

Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes, is also a book that I remember really getting into. Granted, I read it a fairly long time ago, but I'm fairly certain that if I starting re-reading it today I'd enjoy it.

[Firestar27]

Terry Pratchett's Night Watch.

I second this. In fact, other books by Terry Pratchet are also captivating. Example: Small Gods. I didn't care if I only had 5 minutes, I was reading that book.

Also, The Pendragon Adventure series by D. J. Machale. The first book is The Merchant of Death. I only put down the ninth book 4 times. Two times were because I knew I would continue reading it in less than a minute anyway. The third time was because I had to leave and I had no other choice. There was only one time when I voluntarily put down the book while knowing that I wouldn't read it for a few more hours.

Priestess of the White by Trudi Canavan is another captivating books. Her other books are also good (but I haven't read the rest of this series) but not as captivating.

The Vladimir Toltos series by Steven Brust can be captivating. Some are very captivating. Examples include Jhereg (the first one), and Pheonix. Others, such as Athyra, aren't captivating, but are very calming and serene at the same time that they are exciting. I would recommend reading this series in publication order, and not chronological order. For some books, reading in chronological order becomes difficult. There is one book that takes place both before and after Yendi.

Innocent Mage by Karen Miller is very good. It's not quite as captivating, but it's very good. I assume that the sequel, Awakened Mage is also good, but I haven't read it yet.

The Ashes of Alladag by Michael Schweitzer is also very good and captivating. It's the second book of a series, but you don't need to the read the first. I haven't read the first yet, but there is a summary in the beginning of The Ashes of Alladag. (I think it's the only time I've broken my golden rule to read books in order. The only other time is Pratchett, but it doesn't count because there isn't really an order.)

Also, I second the motion to read Ender's Game. It is very good and very captivating.

[SDF]

I suggest to everyone I know American Gods by Neil Gaiman. It is my favorite book ever. It made me very emotional the whole time. Very melancholic in nature. For me it hit a lot of points on what a good story should be. It is very cool if you are into mythology, and is just as good if you aren't.

I just started reading Twilight. I believe the demographic is teenage goth girls, but that never stopped me. Can't say much of it yet, but it's a pretty easy read.

[tape_measure]

Chuck Palahniuk - Strange fiction written from a strange mind. He writes fairly short books that are bizarre enough to either wondering why you bought such crap, or want to buy the rest of his growing list.

Hunter S. Thompon - Most of his books are collections of magazine publications, disturbed drunken ramblings on hotel letterheads, or the occasional rant on politics/sports. Very funny; very strange; mostly insightful.

These suggestions are not suited for everyone. I had this problem once myself. I actually got back into reading with LotR, also. Since then, I have been seeking out the "darker" comedies/satires. Hope you enojy!:smallbiggrin:

[Revanmal]

I picked up the "Iron Tower" by Dennis L. McKiernan and I did not put it down. Used to be a trilogy, but they collected em into one book.

[chiasaur11]

Snow Crash is pretty much pure badass for long enough to get back in the habit.

The first hundred pages of Armor are also fairly intense.

And if you like Vampires, Weremonsters, and demonic puppets, Mike Mignolia's Baltimore is good clean fun.

[puppyavenger]

Roger Zelazny.
WHY IS HE NOT IN FIREFOX'S DICTIONARY!
I read the entire chronicles of Amber(1000+ pages) in one weekend. t goes a bit downhill after Grove of the Unicorn in my opinion, but eh.

and Lord of Light...just Lord of Light.

only downside is that all of his characters are compulsive smokers.

I second the Pendragon suggestion

[valadil]

Everyone should read George R.R. Martin.

What are your distractions when you read? I don't get any reading done at home because I always get interrupted or check my email or something. I've found that I can read on the bus though (actually I have to read on the bus or I die of boredom), so I take the bus to work every day even though it's three times longer than driving. The bus is my dedicated reading time.

[ObesesPieces]

I dont know about other things in your life, but you might want to look into Adult ADD. Young kids and teens with it tend to be able to read or test remarkably well (its called hyper focus) but as they get older and more things are on their mind they tend to be so bombarded on all sides that they cant even do simple things any more. i was diagnosed with it when i was 20 because I went from an A student to almost flunking out of college when everything went down the ****ter. I couldnt even read during that time either. I'm no shrink and its just a thought, but some books that I was able to gobble down were on the list below. Enders Game, Starship troopers (nothing like the movie), The Moon is a harsh mistress, the Star Wars novels of you are into that, and the forgotten realms books (good ol' drizzt) are all engaging in a few different ways. Sorry for rambling : ) and good luck, Reading is a huge part of my life and it sounds like it was for you too, hope you get it back.

[nothingclever]

You might try reading manga or graphic novels instead of regular text only books since they can be just as entertaining if not more so. I can't stand reading regular books when I'm missing out on the great art of others.

[Don Julio Anejo]

Doesn't have to be ADD (which is a BS disorder anyway and doesn't have any basis in biological psych). More likely you've simply got way too bored of reading. Kinda like listening to a song you like 50 times a day for a week or eating a dozen ice cream cones a day - after a while you won't want to do either even though you still technically like them.

IMO you're probably better off finding other hobbies (at least temporarily) - forcing yourself to read is counter-productive.

[Firestar27]

Doesn't have to be ADD (which is a BS disorder anyway and doesn't have any basis in biological psych).

Although it doesn't have to be (and probably isn't, if there haven't been any symptoms before) ADD, ADD is a read disorder. It has a basis in biological psych. The parts of the brain that focus develop at a slower rate. It was originally thought that they barely develop at all, but new studies have shown that they just develop more slowly. ADD is a real disorder. It's just that too many people who don't have it are being diagnosed with it because they have some small trouble focusing.

[evisiron]

Ciaphas Cain, HERO OF THE IMPERIUM! (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CiaphasCain)

Seriously. Get the omnibus, best $12 i ever spent.

Quoted for Mega-Truth! :smallbiggrin:

[streakster]

This has happened to me before, I should mention.

So, here is what I did. I read a lot of variety.

Change it up. Read something different. Try a Traveler's Guide to Black Holes, The Turk: The Life and Times of the Famous Eighteenth-Century Chess-Playing Machine, White Knight, Anno Dracula, The League of Extraordiary Gentlemen, Tom Strong, The Eye of the World, and finally, TvTropes.

All one right after the other.

[Manga Shoggoth]

This really cannot be stressed enough:

If you read for pleasure then don't "force" yourself to read. It's a little like having some mistress from an infant's school lecturing you about "having fun" when you clearly aren't.

Take a break from reading and do something else (it sounds like you are...). There are other equally legitimate forms of amusement, and you shouldn't feel guilty for not reading if you are doing something else constructive instead.

As for suggestions: try reading outside your usual genre. Non-fiction and "factual" books are a bit of a risk as they can be quite dull, but there are good ones out there. I can reccomend (YMMV):


Random walks in Science (two books)
The Ig-Nobel Awards
A Biography of Physics (which is more a history of physics rather than a physics text - really good when you get to the modern era where the author (Gamgow) knows the physicists)
The various collections of Richard Feynman's writing
The various collections of Dave Barry's writing (Hilarious, but not to everyone's taste)


In other (non sci-fi/fantasy) genres:


The Falco novels by Lindsay Davis
The Lord Peter Wimsey stories by Dorothy Sayers


Comics (Mostly Manga, alas):


Fruits Basket (sharts off as shojo, gets dark very quickly)
Call Me Princess (a romance, and one of my favourite manga. Did I mention that I hate romantic fiction)
GLA Misassembled


Above all, remember Sturgeons Law: There is an awful lot of crud out there. For a given value of crud.

[blackfox]

Oy... I've read a ton of really good books recently. Please excuse the emo-kidness. :smalltongue:
Thirteen Reasons Why by... whatsisname... *googles* Jay Asher.
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold, which apparently is gonna be made into a movie soon and they're gonna ruin it. :smallmad:
My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult, if you're only gonna read one book by her (and you should, they're all the same :smallyuk:) then read this one.

And for fantasy:
Dragonsbane by Barbara Hambly and its sequels Dragonshadow, Knight of the Demon Queen, and Dragonstar.
Also just started the Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind... I am thoroughly addicted and it's gonna take me like 5 years to finish all the books.

Sci-fi:
Wolfwalker by Tara Harper and its sequels Shadow Leader, Storm Runner, Wolf's Bane, Silver Moons, Black Steel, and Greyheart.