Thoughts: I've Become Illiterate
Obviously I don't mean literally illiterate as I'm clearly maintaining a blog. I read a lot every day of my life: Emails, messages, articles, posts, blogs, documentation, code. But I don't read books.
I do listen to a lot of books. I got through 20+ audiobooks last year, including the entire Lord of the Rings and several other monster novels... yet every time I pick up a book I fall asleep or lose interest.
I can still read manga just fine; I recently blasted through all of Chainsaw Man in 13 hours straight... But I pick up a novel and my focus is lost in under 5 minutes.
I can only assume this is a side-effect of the internet. My attention span has shrunk and I crave constant stimulation. Even with audiobooks I only listen to while doing something else -- walking the dogs, cleaning dishes. It's less of something I do for the sake of reading, and more something I do because I need stimulation firing on all cylinders all the time. I can't sit alone in the car and drive, I must have books narrated to me to all my senses are being occupied at any given moment -- something that words on paper simply will not give me.
I'm going to try to pick it back up. I'll start with easy thrills and high-fructose corn syrup fantasy to hold my attention and work my way up, but damnit I'm going to learn to read again.