/lit/ - Literature

read something that isn't bullshit

>>6660175

I read also a lot of non-fiction and history. Sci-fi is (was) just my main passion.

>>6660159

This happens to me, too. I will read a lot until I come to a book that's just not great, and then I won't want to read anymore. I have to always force myself back into it.

"i haven t read anything worth two shits and i m bored as fuggg with reading lmao"
>obligatory summer is here
in other news: i ve only drink piss poor quality beer and i m sick of drinking
-i only eat at mcdonalds and i m sick of eating
-i only go to starbucks(aye!) and now i hate coffee

>>6660186
>"a ton" of non fiction and history
It's like pleb-by-numbers.

Bantz aside who cares, you'll get over it. Grab a short story collection or try someone more literary like vonnegut.

>>6660186
Well, what are you interested in now? You might just be burned out on scifi

>>6660159
Start with the Greeks.

>>6660222

Point taken, but what should I do? I tried reading the classics, but it is not much better.

>>6660230

The last book that took my breath away was "The goulag archipelago" by Solzenicyn and "The long walk by Stephen King".

You might be right, since none of the books that captured my mind in the last two years were scifi.

Did this happen to you?

>>6660242
Vonnegut, PKD, Lovecraft, George Saunders, Italo Calvino imo. Only the former two are sci-fi leaning though.

>>6660159
You don't want "literature". Everyone in this thread is going to recommend you bullshit you wont read because you don't use your degree to work at starbucks. If you're into Sci-fi, the last 3 refreshing books I read were The Windup Girl, Ancillary Justice and Redshirts.

The Windup Girl has tropes that you may find annoying being from 4chan. It's obvious the writer is writing about a foreign culture but the scenario it presents is novel which is worth something. It won its awards because it was something new and had a political message that those kinds of committees eat up.

Ancillary Justice is a slow paced revenge story with a pronouns gimmick. It starts slow but has great moments. It was written painfully and obviously written by a woman. If you've read enough books, you know exactly what this means.

Redshirts is rosencrantz and guildenstern are dead set in the Star Trek universe. I'd recommend the audible audiobook if you can stand Jos Wheaton.

It's not you, Sci-fi blows right now. Hang in there.

>>6660338

Ancillary Justice looks great. Thank you!

Read some poetry?

>>6660380

I love Bukowski, but I get tired of other authors quickly.

But yes, maybe I should explore everything before ranting.

>>6660338
>You have to get an english degree to not read dogshit
>"Grown up books are boring"

>>6660338
>Ancillary Justice
Is that the...
Yes it is.
>recommended on /lit/
kek

>>6660400
This isn't really Bukowski related.
I've been reading Anthony Hecht and Yusef Komunyakaa.
Maybe you could like this:
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/178024
I like to read lyrical stuff like this when I need a breather from reading novels.

I recommend early 20th century Sci-Fi.

Their world views and their view of what the future would be is so different from ours that even pulpy schlock has some unexpected twists in it.

Ray Cummings is an okay author in this regard. I like his style of not trying to write scifi for his modern day but attempting to write his idea of a future society's contemporary book.

He has shit endings though, so be warned. Very curt stuff.

>>6660428
>>6660434

Thank you for the recommendation!

>>6660338
I have all three of those books in my library right now, but I haven't touched any of them.
I was probably most likely to read The Windup Girl, but now that you've mentioned it, I see it might be even more annoying than I expected. I was just judging by the cover and the title that it would be something campy.

I've been on the fence about taking Ancillary Justice seriously. I don't care about gimmicks, and I actually do like to read female authors now and then. I'm just worried that it goes beyond gimmicks and the usual "feminist author" stuff (think Margaret Atwood) into territory that would make me roll my eyes too much.

And finally, I'm frankly terrified of John Scalzi. He seems like he might just be the cancer that is going to destroy science fiction. Just look at the premise of Redshirts. I don't see how you can call it anything other than "meme fiction." Yet a lot of people seem to be reading him. People are smitten with his online presence. I don't know why, but I haven't yet dared to find out.

Have you read "The Martian" yet? If you have, you know exactly what I mean about meme fiction killing sci-fi. Honestly, extreme man-hating feminism, "white privilege," etc., worry me less than that bullshit.

I became an avid reader like three months ago and I can't stop. I stopped watching tv and I don't spend much time on 4chan anymore.

Here's how I did it.

-Remember the average person reads like zero books a year. If you read 5 pages a day, you are 5 pages above the average person

-Don't force yourself to read. Commit to read 5 pages a day. I swear after three days you'll feel like reading more and after a month or so you should be reading 50-100 pages a day for pleasure

-Read various books at the same time. When I grab a difficult book or one that makes me sleepy I grab another and switch. This should refresh your head. Keep them thematically different. I read economics and fiction.

-It isn't a race. Reading slowly won't make you sleepy that fast. Try to acknowledge what books are for you to read fast and which aren't.

-Buy the physical copies. When you get the books from your own money you'll feel the need to read them to avoid the feel of wasting your money.

-Start with books highly discussed here so you feel motivated to discuss.

My advice to those whom are just beginning to read or are struggling with reading.

I began reading a couple of years ago, however, it was on and off and I could never get through a book or I could never a new one. Now I read consistently every night before bed. Here are a couple of tips that helped me.

1. Start slow but be consistent. It’s okay if it takes you longer to read but reading is a skill or a muscle just like anything else.

a. I recommend reading a chapter of any James Patterson book every morning when you wake up (or a book with short chapters.)

2. Read for time, or pages (I recommend 40 minutes as your minimum reading time). When I read for time I feel less stressed. When I read for pages, it stresses me out because I began to count the pages. Lately I’ve been counting pages because it comes out to two hours, and I read for two hours. Roughly 30 pages (Plus the morning chapter reading.

3. Turn off the T.V., it’s less stimulating than a book.

4. Talk to other readers find out what they can recommend you.

5. Talk about the book you’re reading to anyone. If you find interesting I’m sure a friend, family member or a coworker will also.

6. Read anything that interests you. Fiction, sifi, mystery, non-fiction. Pick something, there’s something out there for you.

7. Reading is an invaluable tool.

8. Read at a table, don’t read in your bed, or on the couch.

9. Pick a book, and find the time.

10. You can do it. Stick with it.

Whenever this happens to me, I just go and re-read a book I loved but haven't read for years. Its a lot like coming back to your hometown after being gone for a decade; you know how everything will be, but theres a lot of new stuff too. Holds me over until I find something new.

>>6660270
Well I was never a huge scifi buff but I remember being in a slump and then reading Perdido Street Station, which got me excited again.

It's not scifi though

I get burned out on certain kinds of stuff sometimes. Usually I'll read some sci fi novels, then eventually hit up some short story collections, then move on to "classic literature" stuff like Hemingway, and eventually come back around to sci fi and fantasy stuff again.

Also, if you haven't yet, read Game of Thrones.

>>6660242
"The classics" is more books that you could read in 30 years mang. You've not read "the classics", you've read a few famous books that people think are serious because they were written long ago. You're only at the horizon of the rabbit black hole.

I suggest reading books from a genre and century you're probably not familiar with: so, say, plays and poetry from the XVIth and XVIIth century (English, French, Spanish and Italian authors mostly, lots of Italian and Spanish from around that era like Lope de Vega, Quevedo, Gongorra), essays and speculative or philosophical novels from the XVIIth century and before (somewhat in line with sci-fi, lots of funny stuff, Aristophanes, Swift, Sterne, Voltaire, Diderot, More...).

Might be off-putting, but getting past the apparent quaintness or antiquated language is very much worth it. Those guys created our culture of literary banter, after all.