I Can’t Just Read Books Anymore! — Breaking My Reading Rut.

For the first time in a decade, reading felt like a chore. I failed to escape into books as I used to, and I was somehow left directionless in what to do. We’d have to rewind the clock by a month to understand this better.

A month ago, I was at the peak of my happiness as I finally took a break. After finally getting the break I longed for, I did the same thing I always did. Buy some books and start reading them. I read multiple books, fiction and non-fiction, with recommendations from social media, close people, and even apps like Fable. However, at one point, I realised something. I wasn’t enjoying what I read anymore. The things I read felt interesting but not gripping enough to hold my attention. Books, once a source of joy, now felt like a chore. This was the first time I felt like this in the last 10 years. I didn’t know why, but the joy of reading disappeared. Reluctantly, I took a break from reading.

I realised I needed a different type of escape, not the usual routes. And with time, I explored many things I’ve always wanted to do. I spent hours trying to sketch a horse that ended up looking like anything but a horse. I went on a gaming marathon for a few days. I walked around my neighbourhood a lot. I even tried 3-D modelling on Blender. These sessions felt long enough to give me confidence that I could do anything in a day. Yet, these long hours felt like minutes when I ended up at my journal. That’s when I realised it wasn’t the book that lost its magic — it was my state of mind.

What was the problem?

After carefully analysing what was wrong, I was grateful for the earlier realisation. In a single word, the problem would be described as “restless mind”. But the cause of this is not straightforward. My restless mind wasn’t just about feeling distracted; it was a constant hum of anxiety, always thinking ahead to the next task, the next book, the next post.

As I reflected on these, things somehow changed at the fundamental level, and there was a lot of stuff to sort out. On one hand, I was too narrow-minded, thinking that reading books was sufficient for relaxing my brain. On the other, I was overwhelmed by the social media side of the books.

The “restless mind” and my involvement in causing it.

Let me first tackle the “narrow-mindedness” I mentioned. After serious contemplation, I’ve found three major reasons for the personal blockers. The simplest answer is dissatisfaction in other areas of my life that need serious change. I can no longer escape my responsibilities with a book. There are too many things at stake.

The other thing is that I often read without a break. Unlike the common behaviour (at least, that’s what I’ve found on Reddit), I often jump to a new book once I finish another one. Simply put, I used to read one book at a time and start a new one only after I finished the first one. This left no time to contemplate and digest the work I’d finished. This made it hard for me to enjoy a story to the maximum extent, as the best impression of any story lasts only a few moments after we experience the ending.

However, what drove me to read these books as a race? Well, I’m getting to it now.

The Bookstagram struggles.

Since I started writing articles in August, I have been active on social media platforms like Threads and Instagram. The initial days were fun, and I could share my thoughts and have genuine interactions with people who loved reading the same stories as I did.

However, the more I explored these BookThreads/Bookstagram posts, I slowly hit a saturation point. I realised that most of these trends focus more on baiting normal users than improving genuine discussions.

Many were sharing their statuses of finishing books at lightning speed. People were more into updating their current reads and sharing them with others rather than contemplating them. Initially, I was influenced by this rat race and foolishly ran at one book after another. After realising this, I took a step back and realised that the purpose of my social media profile had been twisted at some point. Instead of sharing what I was reading, I was reading to share something.

Adding this to the over-pressure of publishing good articles, reading a book became a task I had to do instead of something I naturally did. Luckily, I returned to my default state early in my journey. With this, I started changing what I do to be more mindful and keep things on track.

What am I doing now?

I am taking my time reading a book. But more importantly, I have realised that focusing solely on books makes me miss out on too many interesting sources of entertainment. Movies, podcasts, anime, and TV series are many different ways a story can be told, yet they are captivating. Of course, the side-effect of reading too much can make the other forms feel slow-paced and sometimes fail to reach our expectations. Nevertheless, some stories are better suited for watching than reading.

Ultimately, reading books is only one of the many ways to experience a story. Indeed, Books give us the ultimate freedom of exploration and imagination. But, if we limit ourselves to one medium, we’d often be left blinded. Stories are far too interesting to be confined to one medium. Let’s explore and enjoy what stories offer rather than being obsessed with a particular medium.

This might contradict the over-hyped social pressure from the #bookstagram or #booktok tweets. But believe me, “reading” is most immersive when you choose to read, not out of some obligation but out of a desire or maybe better stated as “curiosity”. Books are still thriving for a reason. Yet, don’t be too preoccupied with proving you read. Proving that you read doesn’t help anyone, most importantly yourself. Read at your own pace, choose different mediums, have genuine discussions with your peers and ultimately, have fun. This purity makes all the difference.

Have you felt similarly? Or perhaps you have something to add? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below — I’d appreciate any advice on this matter!

I hope you found something interesting here. Thanks for staying till the end. Until next time — Happy reading! ✌️