For over a year now I've been trying to reignite my passion for reading by trying different books. Every single book has ended the same way, giving up after a chapter or two and stopping in place of my own art, video games or some other distraction. I have not successfully read a full novel since January of 2025(?) where I read an alternate history novel from the 50s. Since then I've unsuccessfully tried reading a whole myriad of different books from biographies to comedies to adventures and been unable to get into any. The last book I tried was 'I Remember Lemuria by Richard Shaver (1945)' and while that was interesting at the start I don't like reading on my phone and couldn't find a physical copy. The next books I am intending to try are either 'I, Claudius by Robert Graves (1934)' or 'Mastodonia by Clifford D. Simak (1978)'. Failing those I may just retry 'Carry On Jeeves by P. G. Wodehouse (1925)'.

Because of my growing frustration with this I decided to make a image of all the books I've tried (or plan to try) this past year lying around my frustrated penguin. Maybe posting this will subconsciously help me get back into reading by forcing me to see the absurdity of all these failed attempts. If anyone has any suggestions for something 'comfy' to read I'll give it a shot. Taking any suggestions including fanfictions. Not interested in any non-fiction, comics, manga or VNs however. I'd prefer something I don't need a screen to read (fanfics are an exception).

Interestingly this issue is completely localized to reading books. I've had zero issues with my own writing and have been steadily writing everyday for at least a hour since 2020. Case in point, my word count since January is almost 250,000 words written across 3 novels.