I’m struggling getting back into “serious” reading and feel like my physical posture and environment is hindering me.
I used to read a lot (have inhaled many a Brandon Sanderson books on release) but I can’t get into reading “hard” books. I read mainly in bed (with my kobo) but finding it tricky and I am turning into a hunchback. Audiobooks while cycling)/gym is great, but bit distracting for “hard” books.
How do ye do it?
- Do you have a fav chair (will accept pictures if you could share!) or environment (like a reading nook)?
- When and how do you make time to “digest” books?
- Do you take notes and if so, how?
- bonus question: what was a recent hard book that you enjoyed (and made you reframe stuff) and would recommend?
Thank you!
So far, it has been just one book. It’s a physical book, a Portuguese translation of an originally anglophone book/grimoire. This book has been the only book I ever read from cover to cover.
Back when I read this book, I used to take it to this public place which I’d describe as a mall of pubs surrounded by a green park. I used to prowl around until I found a place to sit down, be it a public cement bench or some table from an empty pub, preferably the latter, and preferably away from people. I’d then open the page I last read, sometimes going back a few pages earlier so to re-read something, then I’d spend the rest of the night, or until I had the urge to leave, reading several pages of it. I rarely consumed beverages as I’d prefer reading while fasting, but when I did, it was often a beverage with vodka and redberry, or a malzbier.
Sometimes I’d also take it to the subway, but I’d be less likely to afford a nice reading as I’d rarely find available seats. Or I’d take it to the shopping mall, preferably somewhere in the terrace or somewhere as devoid of people as possible.
A few times I’d also take it to a cemetery; I’d sit in a bench, or a random tomb if no benches were available… but, then, it wouldn’t take long before I’d get up, wander somewhere else in the cemetery to carve Her sigil/seal somewhere in a dirt patch and light up a incense stick and a red candle I’d bring to the cemetery.
I rarely read it when I was home. And yet, when I got to myself, I realized I managed to read it all. Almost 200 pages in total. Yeah, it’s quite short, but it’s very deep. It’s the only book I keep visible, in my altar. Sometimes I catch myself reading it again to seek specific information.
I bought other books (e.g. Kybalion), but I’m yet to find a book which I’d read as obsessively as this one. Sometimes I guess my next book, a physical book, would be either Liber Al Vel Legis or whatever book She points me.
While I do hoard and read some e-books randomly (but not as cover-to-cover as I did), I prefer physical versions because, well, physical books have no batteries, no telemetry, and they can literally outlive me. The only thing I miss from physical books is having a Ctrl+F to search for a specific word/phrase.
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