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SeaWitchK t1_iwh5rae wrote

Short story anthologies are what preserved my reading habit for years, I highly recommend them!

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jonospark OP t1_iwh6rpj wrote

That's a great idea! I remember going through an anthology of detective stories last year, and it was a great ride. I'll look into more anthologies. Thank you!

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SeaWitchK t1_iwh7nmr wrote

and if you like Gaiman, Fragile Things is a great collection

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jankyalias t1_iwhn3qd wrote

Some of my favorite short story collections if looking for recs:

Isaac Babel: Odessa Stories and Red Cavalry

Franz Kafka: The Complete Stories

Herman Melville: The Piazza Tales (specifically Bartleby and Benito Cereno)

Anton Checkhov: I mean take your pick, the man was a genius

James Joyce: Dubliners (much more accessible than the more famous Ulysses, but no less powerful)

Ambrose Bierce: Tales of Soldiers and Civilians

Italo Calvino: Cosmicomics

Ray Bradbury: Martian Chronicles and Dandelion Wine

Jorge Borges: Fictions and Labyrinths (although I love pretty much all of his work)

Ernest Hemingway: Complete Short Stories

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TheCheeseDevil t1_iwhcgca wrote

I read dense non-fiction for work purposes for a long time and it sucked the joy out of reading for many years. I turned to sci-fi and fantasy and found the escapism wonderful.

Also, audiobooks! Depending on your reading pace you may find you are able to consume more of a book in shorter time that way.

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jonospark OP t1_iwhe64w wrote

Sounds great! It sounds like we have similar experiences. I tend to lean more sci-fi, so I'll see what I can find there. Thank you!

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Talking_Waterfall t1_iwhgey2 wrote

I would suggest Martha Well's 'Murderbot' series, â…š of the books are novellas (about 130~ pages) and they keep you interested with interpreted action sequences. A lot to think about philosophically, the main character is a party between a clone and an AI, and while they're meant to be a tough murder weapon, all they want to do is watch dramas on tv.

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alluvium_fire t1_iwhb9tb wrote

Audiobooks are amazing! I used to be an avid reader of physical books when my life was less busy, but it’s much easier to start and stop an audiobook. I listen while driving, folding laundry, chopping vegetables, and sometimes working too if the task isn’t mentally taxing.

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jonospark OP t1_iwhe1qj wrote

That sounds like a great idea! I find myself "stealing" entertainment time while cooking and cleaning, so reintroducing audiobooks would be a good segue back into the world of fiction.

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FelipeReigosa t1_iwhen0n wrote

One thing you could do is find books with very short chapters, the martian for example each chapter is a day log entry or world war z where each chapter is the pov of one of the survivors and they are quite short. Another thing I did was to stop needing to finish a chapter so I can stop, I just stop midway, so for instance while coding I might take a mini break of 10 minutes and read a few pages, half an hour later I read a few more pages. It's a little weird at first but you get used to it.

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jonospark OP t1_iwhfo25 wrote

Thank you for your perspective! That's encouraging, especially since you seem to also have a tech-focused job like me. I think I need to let go of trying to finishing chapters if I can. I'll look into those suggestion.

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ashk99 t1_iwhnir2 wrote

Light or web novels

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CrazyCatLady108 t1_iwhnmx0 wrote

Hi there. This subject has been very popular in the past. Please use reddit search and/or check the /r/books/wiki/faq.

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jonospark OP t1_iwhuatw wrote

Understood. I didn't quite find what I was looking for through search, but maybe I wasn't using the right search terms. Thank you for the link!

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CrazyCatLady108 t1_iwhvg5q wrote

There is a section in our FAQ dedicated to getting into reading and staying focused while reading, that should offer the advice you are looking for. You can also search the specific title of that section to find newer threads that are not listed there.

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