Anonymous #2 16w

So if I read books that are like 40k+ words and I read 25 books I read 1 million words! That’s amazing! It makes me enjoy the hobby a lot more. My goal is always 1 million words a year minimum, yea it is an easy goal to surpass if you read bulky books. But imagine a million dollar, that’s a lot of money, hold the value of the words you’re reading to that standard. That’s how I think of it. 2/2

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Anonymous #2 16w

If that's what makes you happy, sure. I just question *why* you feel the need to quantify something in order to enjoy it, to feel the need to justify the productiveness of a hobby. Maybe you don't enjoy reading as much as you think you do, but rather you enjoy the satisfaction of ticking off boxes to prove to yourself that you're not "wasting your time." Reading and literature and art deserves more than that

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Anonymous OP 16w

Oh I 100% feel like I’m wasting time while reading, but thats just me dreading life. If I could have zero responsibilities and all my needs met I’d read forever and keep a journal to log feelings and morals I’ve gotten from books. I give reading a quantity because it helps me value life and time? I read big books because I feel like I’m investing a chunk of my life/time, so more words means a bigger attachment to the book. I definitely cannot remember most of the book I read if I read 5-6. 1/2

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Anonymous #2 16w

5-6 books after it, but I hold onto something that stood out like a moral I inferred as important to me and not necessarily the literal moral of the book. And most of all I hold onto how I felt about the book. I hold onto the fear or sadness I felt the most. At 100+ books maybe not everyone remembers every single one, but they will have some that they may have a strong connection to a handful. They aren’t likely giving every book attention to detail; and definitely not as they near their goal.

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Anonymous #2 16w

So if you are genuinely getting meaning out of the books you read, shouldn't that be motivation enough to continue reading? I still don't understand the mindset behind needing to quantify the number of words in a book to justify your "investment" in it. It's just a very odd way to approach reading and engagement with art, almost transactional

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Anonymous OP 16w

I was raised in a strict military home. The phrase “time is money” is drilled into me. I sadly don’t get payed to read, so I’ve made a mind set of words are money. That’s how I justify investing time into books. It definitely seems cold and transactional. I agree art should be enjoyed at its fullest, which is why I’m not trying to speed run books anymore. I want to take my time to interpret and enjoy it at its fullest now compared to speed running books by doing audiobooks at 3x speed.

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Anonymous #2 16w

I can see how that environment impacted how you view your hobbies, and I do respect you trying to break out of that mindset. I've found that I'm motivated by ideas I come across in my day-to-day, and that inspires me to pick up and explore certain books that touch on those topics. So if I read a news story that references an historical event in another country, I'll pick up a nonfiction book about that event or a fictional book from that country that explores the themes surrounding that event

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Anonymous #2 16w

Or like when I watched Nosferatu last Christmas in theaters, that inspired me to get more into gothic horror like reading Dracula or Carmilla. Maybe an author I already like does an interview and they reference some other writer who inspired them, so I read their work. Reading became so much more enjoyable when I allowed myself to follow the ideas and concepts that truly move me. I don't even think of the amount of books or words I read, just the ideas that propel me and encourages me to explore

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Anonymous OP 16w

That’s sounds awesome. I feel like there’s a lot of serious heavy topics on the news all the time. Does it feel frustrating not being able to keep up? Do you read the entire non fiction book? Or is it more of brushing up on your interest in the topic and some background? I feel like it’s a lot of information to soak up and id be worried about biases by the author and would personally want to cross check.

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Anonymous #2 16w

I have my degrees in political science and public policy, and I've always been interested in history. Non-fiction has always been something I'm very comfortable with because I don't see it as depressing, but rather enlightening and expanding on concepts I'm already familiar with or introducing a new perspective I haven't considered. I do look up authors before I read the book, to make sure 1) they know what they're talking about, and 2) I know I'll learn something new

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Anonymous #2 16w

The way I see it, it's like a web of connections that naturally lead me from point A to point B. For example, I just finished reading One Hundred Days of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez. There's a scene that's directly lifted from a real-life event in Columbia, where the United Fruit Company massacred striking workers. I wanted to learn more about USAmerican corporate intervention in Latin America, so now I'm about to pick up a library book that deals with that real history

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Anonymous #2 16w

And this author from this new book America América, historian Greg Grandin, was recently interviewed in a news segment and his writing style has been compared to Gabriel García Márquez. So it all kinda fits together and adds to my understanding of not only the factual history, but also contextualizes the fictional book I just read

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Anonymous #2 16w

The thing that drives you to read doesn't have to be history or politics, I'm just using these examples because that's what I'm genuinely interested in. And because those are genuine interests, it makes me excited to delve into new stories. That's what motivates me to keep reading and exploring. Whatever you're genuinely interested in, whether real-life concepts or fictional worlds, let that be your guide. It is so much more colorful and fulfilling than striving to hit a certain word count

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Anonymous OP 16w

I read an excerpt for class about the United fruit company massacre. Took me a while but it’s from “bananas and business” it’s written more as a research paper, so it’s vague on details if that’s your focus. I read the equivalent of chapter one for class, so I have no clue what the rest covers. But Chp 1 gives a brief summary on the UFC and the people’s labor unions and how the company “gives in” but eventually pulls out of Columbia because of sinking profits and the gov supporting labor unions

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Anonymous #2 16w

Marcelo bucheli is the writer if you’re interested in another source after greg grandin

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Anonymous #2 16w

Fascinating! I'll check it out after I read this book That's another thing too, when one of my classes only briefly covered something that piqued my interest and I'm drawn to go back and do more reading on it on my own. Definitely applicable to non-fiction, but it can also spark questions about how fictional authors work different social issues into their books, or how a certain literary trend impacted their writing style. What worlds did they build, what conflicts do their characters face

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