A Word On Not Finishing Reading That Book
Just a word about reading today, because SO many people with ADHD beat up on themselves about not reading a lot, or reading books from start to finish.
I find it
intensely weird, but ever true that some things are so easy to read, and I fly through them, but others are like pulling fingernails out (and I still can't remember what I read) . I have come to believe that this is one
of those things I have to have faith in; this is just the way things
are. It isn't something you did or chose or tried to make happen that
way. I think that's what we all get ourselves in a bind and worried
about; we think we made it up, because it is so very odd, or that we
made it happen, because it doesn't seem to make sense, or that we're
just not trying hard enough to read. Reality is, trying harder to read
doesn't make reading work any differently.
I'm ripping right through a book of short stories right now because I
do like it, but even a fairly short article on something I'm not so
into can be painful.
It's okay not to read everything. It doesn't make you a better person.
It's just hard for some of us to read things that don't fascinate us. And we might get what we need out of it from just one chapter or a quick skim, because again, it seems to be how we're built. In that case, why bother wasting the agony on it?
Mar 13, 2009 @ 09:09:20
AND…it’s also OK to decide that just because you started a book, it doesn’t mean you have to finish it!
I started reading a best seller a couple of summers ago and it bored me. Every time I’d think to quit, I’d read another review going on and on about how great the book was… and then how hysterical it was in the end. I kept going. But the end? It was NOT even humorous to me!
And the time I wasted wading thru that tome!
I’m pretty sure some evil overlord ingrained in me in grade school that it was unconscionable to start and not finish a book. But now, I’m 50 and I read or don’t for my own reasons… and not to please Mrs. Gundrum!
I’ve learned to quit that which gives me no particular pleasure or value. I’m trying to make that apply to all manner of activities, not just books.
Thanks, Becca, for reminding me.
Mar 15, 2009 @ 11:32:42
There are some books that are not worth finishing…but that only becomes obvious when you start reading them.
To get around the “not finishing a book” problem…I read several books at a time. In other words, I will start three or four books. Then for a few nights I will read one book. Then the next few nights switch to another. Then, if there is a book that really draws me in…I’ll read that one almost exclusively…then back to the others.
My goal is to have finished all of them before I die. 😉