Discussion How to get back into reading published books?

So its been a few years(5+ I think) since I read actual published books. Ever since I discovered webnovels and means of reading online, I have adapted to the convenience of it and am now struggling to get into a book.

I was an avid reader before and my parents didn't let me buy new books since I spent my entire day reading them and studies and all that so I shifted to webnovels and got addicted. The short and easy to read stories became my staple but now that I actually bought some books, I am finding it hard to get into them because I have lost that familiarity I used to have.

Most webnovels that I read are ones that are ongoing and you question every chapter. You feel like you are part of the book but published books are already complete so I am finding it jarring now.

I know its a strange thing to ask for but has this happened to anyone else? If yes, any advice?

 

I recommend reading a book that really sucks you in. Where what chapter you're on doesn't matter due to being so absorbed into finding out what happens next.

It worked for me, but if I didn't binge the whole book I end up leaving it hanging.

 

ha?
for this cat that too easy~
read thing this cat like which dun dun dun~
not fantasy~
the problem, no money to buy book nyahahaha! hey book is costly ya know especially if ya buy 5~10++ on one go~
there some interesting books~

meh actually da thing this cat wanna read kinda niche stuff anyway~

 

Wow how extremely relatable. I feel like reading web novels has worsened my attention span, along with my other internet habits probably.
I would recommend reading The Count of Monte Cristo, it is one of those books that sucks you in completely.

 

Just read books from library, they should have novel and story book section.

 

I think it has more to do with the fact that after reading webnovels you get addicted to discussing things on every chapter, so you need a person to discuss things with start the book with your friends so you can actively discuss things.

 

Read an ongoing series and join a subreddit or forum dedicated to it. Try the Stormlight Archives. I hear the community is great, and the author i frequently seen browsing and answering peoples questions

 

Top books to help you get back in shape would be western fantasies that is more or less similar to webnovel genres.
1. Way of Kings - Book one of The Stormlight Archive. Easy to read, has awesome arcs within the books, you will root for the main characters. When I was reading this I couldn't put it down.
2. The Name of the Wind - The origin story of a legend. Book one of an unfinished trilogy (problem with an unreliable writer) but it's alright, book 1 is good on its own, again you will want to root for the MC as he suffers and finally learns to stand by himself.
3. Senlin Ascends - I haven't read this yet but found a lot of praises for the book.

Non Fiction!! Not sure if you'll like these, but I'll try
1. The Sleep Revolution: Transforming Your Life, One Night at a Time - it sounds like a self help book, but dont worry, it's not! It talks about the science of sleep, its mysteries and its history (trivia! apparently it's normal for people in the old ages to have a 1st and 2nd sleep, waking up in the middle of the night and doing normal stuff was normal back then.) and the factors that affects our sleeping patterns,
2. Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow - Fun book on predicting the future by looking at the current innovations we have now.
3. Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis - I'm asian so I found this book interesting.

 

Thanks for the reccs I will check them out. The only one I have read amongst them is name of the wind and it quickly became one of my favourites.

 

Try Murakami Haruki or David Mitchell, they write fantastical novels that’ll suck you in.

 

yeah the books of babel are absolutely phenomenal. Would highly recommend them.

 

I would recommend the classics/ well regarded novels so you could get back into well written and beautiful English prose compared to the stilted translated novels. Go to Guttenberg project for your free books. There's also professionally translated classics you could read eg Metamorphosis. I suggest shor stories or novellas to pick you back up.

 

Personally I really like reading memoirs. There's a strong narration in memoirs that is similar to how webnovels are driven by the MC.
Some good memoirs off the top of my head:

• The Autobiography of Fukuzawa Yukichi
• The Glass Castle
• Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother

Not a memoir, but this is just too good not to recommend: Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity

 

You don't have to give up the "webnovel" aspect that appeals to you. After all, official light novels exist, and there are some really good ones! While that mostly applies to JP LNs, slowly but surely KR LNs are coming into the mix. I really like the feeling of reading a physical book, and it's nice to see the "webnovel version" get some more polish in an official publication. Plus, the art.
I see a few people recommended the Stormlight Archives, and I'd agree with that. In fact, pretty much anything from that author (Brandon Sanderson) is really good.

 

I use to read published book too. I will buy the hard copy at the book story and carry it anywhere and read it anywhere.

Unfortunately, this fellow reader is so poor that I could only get to if I have money. I was struggling to fill in my piggy bank. Then a hero came to my rescue and introduced me to may PDF and EPUB books.

From then on, I only read dl or online web novel.

But if you want to go back to reading published books, it quite easy.

As an avid reader, every reader dreamth to be surrounded by books.

Buying the hard copy itself means supporting the author himself aswell.

Buy the book first. If you are really an avid reader, once the book is place in your hand you will no longer feel entangled and will get use to reading back into books again.

 

When I try to read published books and drop almost all of them now. Then I pick up a random book, get a few chapters in and think "wait a minute, have I read this before?' and my will to read evaporates.

Same happens with movies, I can't sit through the slow build up anymore. I recently tried watching some old action movies and action was clearly not on the menu for the first half of most of them, so I got bored. So somehow I'd rather sit on the frontpage waiting for something interesting to happen for hours on end rather than watch/read something boring.

I may have sabotaged myself with my goldfish attention span.

 

Don't read it like web novels, which can be read between 15 minutes break or during lunch break. Treat it like real books, where you need a session of a peaceful environment to slowly read and digest. Also, don't ever skim.