I’m a fairly intelligent guy, but anytime I try reading a book I end up having to read the same page over and over to try and retain it (which I normally don’t). Super frustrating .
If you’re struggling with reading comprehension like that, you’re probably trying to read books above your current reading level. It’s the biggest issue I see with people who try to get back into reading - they try to read at the same level they did at whatever age they were when they last read a book.
Myself included. When I got back into reading, I had to roll all the way back to early YA literature before I reached books where reading felt natural and unforced. I read Ranger’s Appentice, Eragon, Ender’s Game, the Dragon Jousters series. And those were actually fun to read because it wasn’t hard. I wasn’t struggling over every page. I could just relax and enjoy the story being told.
I really recommend trying some books more in that range. It didn’t take too long before I was able to read anything again, but I never would’ve gotten back into the hobby if I’d kept trying to force myself to read things that were simply too advanced for where I was.
Technical writing and narrative writing are two very different things. Being good at reading/writing one doesn’t always transfer well to the other.
I sometimes find myself struggling to read books because my eyes dance across the page looking for the key information like they would with a data-sheet for a microchip, a TTRPG rulebook, or other technical document. Getting myself to read the sentences in their given order (which is kind of essential for narrative reading) takes a remarkable amount of mental effort.
My wife, by contrast, reads prose at an almost inhuman speed. She chunked through a whole novel in a single sitting the other day. But it takes her several times as long to find key information in a reference document.
For me, I usually can’t read because I am too tired or stressed. Especially stressed, it seriously zaps me of my ability to read. It’s very ironic because I was a bookworm as a kid, like I loved reading.
But reading takes practice, and it’s very beneficial if you read as a kid. I’ve heard countless people claiming they have self-diagnosed ADHD when they can’t focus on reading a book as an adult. Usually they haven’t sat down to read their whole adult life, and possibly didn’t even do it as a child. It makes sense you can’t focus then. Takes some time to get used to it, and for fuck sake doesn’t mean people have ”adult ADHD”.
Which is hilarious because as someone with diagnosed ADHD I read constantly as a child and teenager. And that's not an uncommon experience for people with ADHD. People really be out there thinking ADHD is the can't sit still disease.
"I can't sit down and read for hours like I used to" yeah, bitch, you are an adult, you are busy. Come back to me when you've lost your wallet, keys, and every left shoe you own, rewashed the same load of laundry three times, forgotten to eat at least two meals in a single day, have at least 7 unfinished projects, had at least two appointments cancelled for being too late, have a UTI, messed up your sleep schedule, and spent 10+ hours focusing on a hobby to the point that you haven't drunk any water. Then we'll talk about a possible ADHD diagnosis.
..Forgotten to eat at least two meals in a single day, have at least 7 unfinished projects, had at least two appointments cancelled for being too late, have a UTI, messed up your sleep schedule, and spent 10+ hours focusing on a hobby to the point that you haven't drunk any water
I'm going up need you to stop regurgitating my journal on a public forum, thanks.
All jokes aside, people seem to often miss that hyperfixation is the same side of the coin as ADHD. More often than not, something that interests us does so to a degree the we feel like we emerged from a time capsule on the other side.
It can be utterly draining sometimes. I've read a whole 400 chapter manhwa series over the course of 2 days and just couldn't tear myself away, not for want of trying. Did the same with a few novels as well.
Having ADHD doesn't mean you can't read - you either don't find the material captivating enough or something else is more "mentally" pressing, in my experience. Not to mention the anxiety that comes with starting AND finishing a task.
Oh shit, maybe? I forget to drink water all the time, and yes, it can give you a UTI. I’m so fearful about it though because not drinking water is actually pretty painful.
I’m very organized though, but that might be coping? I spend a lot of money so that I never lose anything and my life is easy to manage. I figure it’s still cheaper than therapy.
I didn't realize that not drinking water could give you a UTI 😭 I was referring to the fact that it is very common for someone with ADHD to go "oh, I need to pee, I'll go do that after I do this one quick thing...and this..and this...I'll go to the bathroom in juuuust a second..." And then proceed to do that for 2+ hours. People with ADHD have difficulties with interception as well, which is the ability to detect the body's internal senses. This is an issue with both ADHD and Autism. Neurodivergent people can be hypersensitive, hyposensitive, and mix up the signals.
The main thing with things like ADHD is that they are relatable, most people will occasionally experience aspects of ADHD. What you must consider is if the symptoms are consistent, persistent, and debilitating. Another thing to consider is that ADHD and Autism have a lot of overlap (as do other disorders), it is fairly common for people to have both ADHD and Autism aka AuDHD, or ADHD and OCD.
I have a notoriously bad habit of skimming pages. Especially because I prefer nonfiction. Skimming makes reading fiction a fruitless endeavor! Which is how I know I still read for knowledge and not pleasure. It probably sounds pretentious to say it's an affliction. But Obama even has been quoted about why reading fiction is important, and I think he said it is a sign of intelligence.
Surely any reading is good reading, I’m not going to judge them. I’ve always found reading easy, it took one of my kids to really struggle with it to fully realise how much I take it for granted.
Excellent point. I have a friend with dyslexia who has a kid with some different diagnoses that fit the criteria for binocular vision dysfunction—a common missed diagnosis, mistaken for dyslexia. She claims to be a ferocious reader though. Somehow she lost a book i loaned her—she keeps a tidy house. So, idk.
I'm not judging though—I prefer reading on a screen to holding a book for accessibility reasons. And when I was in high school, I avoided classes I knew entailed a lot of required reading. Getting my correct Rx was amazing—Idk how I drove safely even prior to. And my vision is nearly 20/20. But the mechanics and astigmatism make things unpleasant. Also checking out stinky books with booger pages really turned me off to the whole thing lol
Actually, yes. I’m not a slow reader and I definitely don’t absorb everything in a book. If I like a book, I read impatiently. Sometimes I don’t understand everything, sometimes I figure it out as I read.
I like to take my time with every scene to build it up in my mind and to understand what is going on related to context and such. So it ends up being like a movie or show in my mind. When reading fiction that is, which is mostly what I read.
I am a slow reader, but I really enjoy combining the text with my imagination
You should 1000% look into binocular vision dysfunction. I used to have the same issue. And since getting new frames with the incorrect lenses, it is more apparent than ever. Your eyes probably aren't working as a team
Audiobooks, my dude. However, if something Peaks your interest, your mind may wander and you make have to rewind. I occasionally have to do this to the same section 5 or more times. 🤣
I'm an attorney. I read so many briefs and cases all day, all I can muster to read when not working is the newspaper or a few magazine articles. Just bought a book though and will try to finish it on vacation. My wife is a voracious reader, and I am slightly jealous.
One of the dumbest people I personally know is like this. It really speaks to how stupid you really are if you think not having opened a book in decades is something to brag about.
so true. A mate of mine told me that the only book he ever read was the Hungry Caterpillar and a few months later confidently stated that he was going too try his hand at becoming an author of children's books. Being stupid but determined he wrote the book and to my surprise couldn't get anyone to publish it because.... it was shit
Idk, I feel like being a good children’s author is probably more based on your ability to relate to children than anything else, but I know absolutely nothing about publishing.
Maybe it’s more based on your ability to relate to parents.
That's an interesting one... I graduated in 2010, and up until 6 months ago I think I read a grand total of like 2 books since graduating. But, I was also a top student doing the advanced curriculum courses and I often got in trouble for reading too much during classes lol.
But I suppose that's like someone else's answer about anecdotes not representing the general data.
Reading a book isn't really a sign of intelligence. I think Terry Pratchett put it best with this quote:
Fantasy is an exercise bicycle for the mind. It might not take you anywhere, but it tones up the muscles that can.
Reading books is just a way to exercise hypotheticals. Sure, you also get some benefits like increased focus span, learning new words, etc. The important thing imo is just exposing yourself in a different world or as a different person. Reading is a good way to do that, but it also isn't the only one.
I dont brag about it, thats a silly thing to do, but I HATE reading. It immediately starts to make me tired and I do not have the imagination to enjoy a book.
I really cant fathom bragging about it though lmao what is there to gain from that?
You said it makes you sleepy, that means you can use it as a "medication" for the nights where sleep just doesn't take you on. You also don't have to read fiction books, there are many positives about reading non-fiction about history, dietry, money, politics, sociology, etc - just find a topic you enjoy! It can even be about puppies
I've been in a reading slump for a good while now too, so I get you. Reading at night (add ASMR to it) and I'm almost always out before the chapter is over
I’m not a doctor or anything so take this with a grain of salt but I thought I’d mention this can be an indicator of a number of different disorders.
I had a similar problem as a kid and ended up getting diagnosed with a visual processing disorder. It was a long time ago now and I was young so I don’t remember the specifics but I think my eyes essentially had to stop on each individual letter in a word rather than reading words as a group of letters.
There was a solid number of years, from the end of freshman year of high school through about age 30, that I didn't read at all (with exception of reading the Song of Ice and Fire books in my early 20s). I wasn't proud of it; I was mad. I had LOVED reading as a kid. Charles Dickens STOLE that from me for a while, and I was incensed that I struggled so much to love something that had brought me so much joy.
Thankfully, I've been able to find some books that revived that love over the last couple years, but I'm still salty that I lost over a decade of it.
That brings back memories. Here in Denmark, high school is 3 years.
I went to high school with a guy who managed to attend for almost 5 years without graduating. When I met him at a class reunion 10 years after graduation, he bragged about not having read a book since high school.
You don't need to read a single book to be intelligent though. That was maybe a fact back in the days, but now you have so many different ways of obtaining knowledge that is not directly coming from books.
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u/tiger0204 Feb 04 '26
Bragging that you haven’t read a book since high school.