Ask HN: How much time do you spend reading books?

[roundstars]

I have bought multiple books, but most of the time I don't find myself motivated to read them. Instead, I prefer to watch hour long documentaries/TED talks/programming tutorials on Youtube.

I feel that it's important to build the habit of reading books to improve my cognitive skills. Are there any tips for me please?

[runjake]

Sometimes 1-3 hours a day, sometimes never. It is important to build the reading habit.

My tips? Make a goal of reading a single book for 30 minutes somewhere quiet. If you have a smartphone and/or smartwatch, put them in a different room. Now resolve to read an interesting book for 30 minutes.

If you are looking for engaging recommendations, check out Replay by Ken Grimwood[1]. Try not to read too much about the plot before reading it. If you're a younger person, the book will serve as a warning. If you're an older person, it will hit hard.

1. https://www.amazon.com/Replay-Ken-Grimwood/dp/068816112X

[abbefaria27]

The biggest tip is to read fun books. Pick up an easy dumb page turner like The Da Vinci Code, and reading won’t be a chore. Save the non-fiction and literary fiction for when you get more in the habit. Also, it’s ok to give up on a book if it’s not interesting.

[jfil]

I'm going to second this: if a book doesn't grip you and get you to be curious, then this indicated it is badly written (applies to both fiction and nonfiction). Give yourself permission to skim books or stop reading halfway - life is too short to read something that's not enjoyable or useful.

[Desafinado]

I read books all the time, every day. I don't watch TV, I don't use Youtube much, most of my activity online is reading.

I disagree that you 'need to build the habit of reading to improve your cognitive skills'. There is nothing inherently healthy about reading, I know plenty of people who've been reading fiction for their entire lives and they aren't more informed than people not reading books.

The reason you should read books is because if you look hard enough for good books, the content you can find in them is more interesting, more relevant, more engaging than almost any other form of media. I read books all the time because every other form of media is trash, because they teach me esoteric things about the world around me, that you can't get from Ted Talks or other superficial forms of media. But the interest has to be there, if you aren't interested in engaging, intellectual content then just stick to Youtube and be happy.

[PestoDiRucola]

> because every other form of media is trash

Not trying to be controversial, but do you also think forums such as this one are trash?

[Desafinado]

I wasn't really thinking of forums when I made that comment. TV, movies, short form video, journalism. Youtube has merit but compared to books the level of quality isn't even close.

Finding the right forum is exactly how you find good books.

[prxtl]

You can read a lot if you read things you enjoy, instead of things you feel you ought to read as a goal/achievement.

I used to read a lot in high school and then lost the habit as I went through undergrad. The way I got back into it was by ignoring best sellers and hype titles and the feelings of "I should read this because all my hacker friends keep referring to it".

I started reading a lot more fiction, especially stories from my country and culture. I stopped forcing myself to finish books that bored me. And because this is expensive to do, I bought physical books from a used books store instead of 1-click-buys on my Kindle.

Eventually, this built enough reading muscle for me that I moved to reading more ambitious things and I was able to persevere longer and battle through some really boring stuff (on topics that I cared about).

[carlosjobim]

> I stopped forcing myself to finish books that bored me.

This is the solution. If a book is boring you, skip a few pages, skip a chapter, put it away and get another book, or delete it / throw it away.

[devrundown]

I read 1-3 hours a day. Usually 1-2 hours reading on my Kindle before bed. Then another hour or so via audiobook while walking, doing chores, in the car etc...

But sometimes I will go through a slump, then see a book that really looks interesting and get into it.

Don't feel bad about starting a book and then not finishing it. Life's too short to read books you're not into.

[retentionissue]

Since I started working night shifts, I have read on average two books a week.

As others have said, the amount of time spent reading depends on the book in your hand. I recently picked up two books by David Baldacci for this week and just finished the second one tonight - His style is stellar, keeps me hooked and I can read for 5 hours solid some nights.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Innocent_(Baldacci_novel) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Target_(novel)

[conditionnumber]

I've been in a similar slump for a while now (lectures + paper skims >> books + coding), so this is advice I'm telling myself right now. Put a stack of good books in a place where you see them several times a day. There's a good chance their presence will taunt you into reading them. Maybe charge your phone on the stack. Don't feel guilty about skipping around between books. Do feel guilty about neglecting them. I'm going to null route HN and YouTube for the remainder of November. Thanks for the question.

[pyeri]

Yes, most people in this age are trapped in the widespread phenomenon of "digital media induced dopamine traps". Your mind may never let you use old school slow information gathering tools (like books, manuals and software documentation) when easy and instant servings like LLM lookups and youtube vids are so accessible. Your mind might ask "why go through all that pain and trouble, what's the use of it?" and you'll have no easy answer to that.

[mindcrime]

How much time do you spend reading books?

It varies from year to year, month to month, and even week to week. But for quite some time now I've been really focused on doing a lot of "deep dive" backgrounding on various AI topics. During this period I've read probably 30'ish books (it's been 2+ years now).

For the most part, I carve out time to study very specifically. I'd say a normal week is reading/studying for 3-5 hours on Friday evening after work, then putting in 8 or 9 hours on Saturday, and then probably 3-4 hours on Sunday (during football season) and maybe 6-7 hours on Sunday (non football season). Then maybe another aggregate total of 3-5 hours throughout the rest of the work-week. And then mix in maybe another hour or two a week for reading fiction (that's more sporadic though, so don't take this bit too literally).

Totaling it all up, that's something like 20-30'ish hours as week. Keep in mind, most of this stuff is textbooks which are pretty dense and don't read real fast. I used to read a lot of novels, but I've largely fallen off on the fiction reading lately since I've been so research focused. I think I've read maybe 4 novels this year and am working on the 5th now (Book One of the "Bobiverse" series).

I feel that it's important to build the habit of reading books to improve my cognitive skills. Are there any tips for me please?

Hard to say. I've been an avid reader for basically my entire life, so it comes very naturally to me. The one thing I will observe though, is that over the past 5+ years I've noticed that I find it harder and harder to stay focused on one thing when it comes to video content. I can't watch a movie or tv show without constantly stopping to check Twitter, Facebook, HN, email, news.google.com, etc. But when I sit down with a book, I can just "lock in" and read for hours at a time mostly uninterrupted. My experience may not generalize, but if you try to make yourself read a bit, you may find that reading (paper books) might help you have similar periods of focus? That is, assuming such a thing is important to you.

In either case, read if you enjoy it and derive value from it. But don't read just because you feel like other people are telling you ought to read. "To thine own self be true" and all that jazz...

[daemonologist]

~None - with fiction I used to have a bit of a problem and had to quit, except when I'm on vacation. Non-fiction/reference books I find to usually be too drawn-out or broad, and I'd rather do a project to learn a skill. Sometimes they're extremely useful but it would be rare for me to read one cover-to-cover.

[paulcole]

15 to 20 hours a week give or take.

I’m at 117 books read on the year.

The only tip is that if you actually want to read more you’ll do it. If you don’t do it, you’re only telling yourself you want to read more and you’ll continue to prefer to watch hour long documentaries/TED talks/programming tutorials on Youtube.

[Quinzel]

Depends on how busy I am in life. Sometimes I can read for like 5 or 6 hours across the span of a day. Other times 5 minutes, or nothing at all for weeks. Currently on a reading buzz and feeling wholesome from it.

[firefax]

Not much to be honest --- nowadays I watch a lot of prestige TV for storytelling.

Occasionally I read a nonfiction book, or some poetry, but often the "literary" stuff I read is more like the New Yorker or other longreads.

[hnthrowaway0315]

Nowadays I only have time to read 1) very technical books (think something close to Lion's comments on UNIX VI), or 2) parenting books.

I spent about 30-60 minutes every day.

[apothegm]

A few hours almost every evening that I’m home.

Mostly pulpy fiction, though. I rarely have mental energy to spare by that time for books that require thought.

[gethly]

I was able to read books in double digits in 2021 and 2022. I have some I want to read but I cannot. It simply boils down to distractions. I need to have nothing to do. It does not even have to be something imminent. Just knowing I have things to do is enough. Then I am able to read every day with no issues.

But I started working on Gethly platform, and have not been able to find time for books for 3 years now. I am currently finishing a big feature for the platform but after that, I think I might be able to be distraction-free as I do not plan to spend as much time working on it as I did until now, as most things I wanted to implement will be done. So I am looking forward to it.

tl;dr it is about not being distracted and having the time to focus solely on one thing. Also the books must be intriguing. People usually think they do not like reading books when in reality is that they are not sufficiently interested in specific books. If you find some that get you excited, those are easy to read.

[0_AkAsH_03]

30-45 minutes daily... these days I'm not that consistent but usually yes!

[_dcez]

For non-IT books, physical copies work best for me. In my case, it not only helps but is absolutely essential - completely shutting down the computer at the end of the day, with a firm decision that it stays off until tomorrow. The exception is IT books that require interaction, like typing code - then it's completely the opposite: only PDFs work, and reading them on the computer is the way to go.

[beardyw]

With a rule of no phones in the bedroom, reading a book at bed time becomes a habit. I read about a time in history which interests me, classic novels, some modern fiction. You would need to find your own niche. Don't read self help books, it's meant to be enjoyable!

[Jtsummers]

I need to get back in the habit, but we have a sitting room with no television. I used to have a "no screens" (except e-ink ereaders with just books/PDFs/etc.) rule in there for myself, made for a great reading space. I broke it while working on a masters degree and needed a quiet space to study and work on projects, once I'm done with the degree I plan to go back to that rule though.

[chistev]

An hour daily.