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   Elizabeth Tai | 戴秀铃 🇲🇾 (liztai@hachyderm.io)'s status on Monday, 15-Jan-2024 08:03:28 JST Elizabeth Tai | 戴秀铃 🇲🇾

   In 2023 I read 15 books.
   My usual rate: 60-100.
   I think I've lost the ability to read anything longer than a pithy essay on Substack 😭
   I read essays, blog posts, articles, #SocialMedia posts.
   But, but ... I feel that I'm losing something with this.
   It disturbs me that I can't even focus long enough to complete a chapter. And that all that social media blog content was affecting my mood somehow.
   Am I blathering?
   How do I regain my reading abilities? 😅

   #Reading #SocialMedia #Books

   • Embed this notice
     Elizabeth Tai | 戴秀铃 🇲🇾 (liztai@hachyderm.io)'s status on Monday, 15-Jan-2024 08:07:44 JST Elizabeth Tai | 戴秀铃 🇲🇾

     • Camilo

     @cam I have to give myself "reading homework" like you too. It feels like I'm back in the baby stage of reading or something 😅
     I feel like I am battling a demon I can't win though - my phone!

   • Embed this notice
     Stacey Cornelius (staceycornelius@mstdn.ca)'s status on Monday, 15-Jan-2024 08:17:05 JST Stacey Cornelius

     in reply to

     @liztai Could some of it be burnout? I know a lot of people who are wrestling with it. Lack of focus is a definite sign.

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     Elizabeth Tai | 戴秀铃 🇲🇾 (liztai@hachyderm.io)'s status on Monday, 15-Jan-2024 08:38:06 JST Elizabeth Tai | 戴秀铃 🇲🇾

     in reply to

     • RossS

     @satchmo35 I have about 500 waiting for me. No, I'm not joking haha.

   • Embed this notice
     RossS (satchmo35@mas.to)'s status on Monday, 15-Jan-2024 08:38:07 JST RossS

     in reply to

     @liztai when you figure it out, let me know. I've got stacks of books that I bought, but I've barely cracked them.

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     Anita Lewis (ajlewis2@social.vivaldi.net)'s status on Monday, 15-Jan-2024 10:23:09 JST Anita Lewis

     in reply to

     @liztai

     Joining TheStoryGraph helped me. I've enjoyed the graphs they give to show me my reading trends. I did challenges for a couple years and boosted my reading. Now I've decided to listen to podcasts instead of audiobooks, because the podcasts are really helpful to me so my number of books is going to go down this year. As long as I keep the reading habit with a mix of fiction and nonfiction, I'll be happy.

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     Elizabeth Tai | 戴秀铃 🇲🇾 (liztai@hachyderm.io)'s status on Monday, 15-Jan-2024 10:23:09 JST Elizabeth Tai | 戴秀铃 🇲🇾

     in reply to

     • Anita Lewis

     @ajlewis2 That's interesting! Only worried that the challenges would make me more perfectionist about it haha

     I think maybe I'm forcing myself to read things I don't want - maybe my brain wants essays now and it's not a bad thing. However, I need to be discerning cos I'm reading far too many that complains about the world rather than celebrate it ...

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     Elizabeth Tai | 戴秀铃 🇲🇾 (liztai@hachyderm.io)'s status on Monday, 15-Jan-2024 13:20:51 JST Elizabeth Tai | 戴秀铃 🇲🇾

     in reply to

     • EllenInEdmonton :mstdnca:

     @EllenInEdmonton Thank you :P I think maybe I need to accept that I want to read shorter stuff and ... Chinese and Korean novels.

   • Embed this notice
     EllenInEdmonton :mstdnca: (elleninedmonton@mstdn.ca)'s status on Monday, 15-Jan-2024 13:20:52 JST EllenInEdmonton :mstdnca:

     in reply to

     @liztai
     Reading is an ability and an interest that never really disappears, it just ebbs and flows with whatever else is going on in your life! I've gone under 10 some years and hit 50+ the last couple of them. Be patient, and if you haven't already done so, explore different modalities like audiobooks
     I've adjusted down my reading goals for 2025, due to my intense new interest in #kdrama. I'm still absorbing narrative, but in another form.

   • Embed this notice
     EllenInEdmonton :mstdnca: (elleninedmonton@mstdn.ca)'s status on Monday, 15-Jan-2024 14:09:27 JST EllenInEdmonton :mstdnca:

     in reply to

     @liztai
     That will be a lot more challenging unless you have experience reading in those languages. I'm excited to be able to read more than a word at a time in #hangul

   • Embed this notice
     Elizabeth Tai | 戴秀铃 🇲🇾 (liztai@hachyderm.io)'s status on Monday, 15-Jan-2024 14:09:27 JST Elizabeth Tai | 戴秀铃 🇲🇾

     in reply to

     • EllenInEdmonton :mstdnca:

     @EllenInEdmonton There are fan-translated English versions for those. :) Have you looked at novelupdates or WuxiaWorld, for example?
     Also some publishers have actually translated some of them, including Jin Yong's works.

     https://www.novelupdates.com/

   • Embed this notice
     EllenInEdmonton :mstdnca: (elleninedmonton@mstdn.ca)'s status on Monday, 15-Jan-2024 14:17:32 JST EllenInEdmonton :mstdnca:

     in reply to

     @liztai
     At this point, I'm not feeling too curious to read webtoons or novels although that could easily change as I get more immersed in #LanguageLearning and cultural curiosity. I hope to take a long trip to Korea in spring/2025 so I'll want to have adequate reading skills to decipher signs and menus, which seems realistic.

   • Embed this notice
     Elizabeth Tai | 戴秀铃 🇲🇾 (liztai@hachyderm.io)'s status on Monday, 15-Jan-2024 14:17:32 JST Elizabeth Tai | 戴秀铃 🇲🇾

     in reply to

     • EllenInEdmonton :mstdnca:

     @EllenInEdmonton I think with hangul, it's very doable.
     :)
     With Mandarin, however ... I'm only at 60 characters and you need at least 2000 to be able to read novels hahaha.

   • Embed this notice
     Elizabeth Tai | 戴秀铃 🇲🇾 (liztai@hachyderm.io)'s status on Monday, 15-Jan-2024 20:34:39 JST Elizabeth Tai | 戴秀铃 🇲🇾

     in reply to

     • Anita Lewis
     • EllenInEdmonton :mstdnca:

     @ajlewis2 @EllenInEdmonton I read the Brain that Changes Itself. It's pretty good 😊

   • Embed this notice
     EllenInEdmonton :mstdnca: (elleninedmonton@mstdn.ca)'s status on Monday, 15-Jan-2024 20:34:40 JST EllenInEdmonton :mstdnca:

     in reply to

     • Anita Lewis

     @liztai @ajlewis2
     Since I don't really read nonfiction, I'll suggest a topic that's fascinating to me: Neuroplasticity!

   • Embed this notice
     Anita Lewis (ajlewis2@social.vivaldi.net)'s status on Monday, 15-Jan-2024 20:34:40 JST Anita Lewis

     in reply to

     • EllenInEdmonton :mstdnca:

     @EllenInEdmonton @liztai

     Ellen, neuroplasticity sounds fascinating to me, too. Do you have a suggestion from something you've read? I'm interested.