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Old 12-04-2018, 01:09 AM   #1
bradmmm
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Talking Heya! Just got my first e-reader and I love it!

Hi y'all! My name's Brad

So I just got an early Christmas present 2 weeks ago - a Kobo Forma! I am absolutely loving it. I read a lot of manga so the screen size is just perfect. I haven't read a single novel since I was about 12 years old (I'm 26 now!). It frustrates me like crazy as I used to love reading, I was a little book nerd.

In the last 3-4 years, I have had some pretty bad luck with my health... I've been diagnosed with three separate chronic conditions, all of which cause pain. The pain mixed with the stress, anxiety and depression that come with these conditions have caused me all sorts of problems, the most annoying would have to be my inability to concentrate on just about anything - books, movies, anime, manga, cooking, conversations... the list goes on.

I'm not here to complain though, quite the opposite! The last 4 years have been a hell of a journey for me and I still have a lot to learn if I want to get myself where I want to be, but in the last ~12 months, I have finally found a good medical team; I have an amazing GP and 5 other specialists. I never thought I'd be happy with every single person on my medical team but it has happened!

Anyway, back to books and the reason that I got an e-reader in the first place. I have tried reading novels many, many times over the last few years but I never have any luck at all, unfortunately. I just really struggle to concentrate. I am a "good" reader still but I just can't absorb bloody anything. I can read for 15 minutes and then realise I literally have no clue what I just read.

I spent a long time reading a few pages a day but I never saw any improvement in my ability to concentrate and remember what I read... that is until I tried reading manga! At the start of this year I had never read a manga and now I've read a decent amount, at least for me! Compared to the start of the year, I am much better at reading manga; I read it a lot faster but I also absorb way, way more info. It feels really good to make some progress, even if it's only manga for now.

My goal now is to read at least 10 minutes of a novel per day and hopefully, if I stick with it I will be able to read for longer and actually absorb what I am reading.

If anyone is interested, here are the manga I have read so far - https://myanimelist.net/mangalist/Bradmmm?status=1

So yeah, I thought I would join the community here as I've heard nothing but great things and it seems to be the best place to hang out and talk about e-manga and e-books!

If anyone is reading this and has any recommendations for books that are on the easier to read side of the fence, I would absolutely love to hear from you! Since I haven't read for so long, I don't even know what genres to ask for so I'm going to go ahead and say I'm open to ANY genre; I just need some easy reads that will get me hooked. You can see on my list of manga that I have been reading mostly shounen series, but I want to branch out of that sort of genre as well so I would love recommendations for both manga and novels!

If I can get some recommendations, I'm going to load my Forma up with a nice amount of novels for the holidays - I'm going away for three weeks and I'm going to have all of the free time in the world! I'm really hoping that I can get hooked on reading some good novels; I love manga but I am craving some novels, I just don't have any idea where to start!

Thanks for reading my little essay here. lol. I didn't plan to post such a large wall of text, nor did I plan on asking for recommendations haha, I got carried away with my introduction!

I'm keen to talk to some like-minded people and finally (hopefully) get into some manga of a different genre and some novels of any genre! I just need things that will grab my attention easily - that's the problem I have, getting into things. I find that I really struggle to get into new stories but that's the hardest part for me. I have so much free time for the rest of the year so I can definitely do this!

Thanks everyone! Look forward to having a chat

~bradmmm
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Old 12-04-2018, 01:23 AM   #2
darryl
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Welcome. Chronic illness is certainly no fun. Just the pain alone could well be the reason for your concentration and comprehension problems. I suspect that as your concentration and attention span builds through Manga that may well translate to Novels, though probably not overnight.

Best of luck. Mobileread members have many differences but we are united by one thing. Our love of books and reading.
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Old 12-04-2018, 01:35 AM   #3
bradmmm
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bradmmm got an A in P-Chem.bradmmm got an A in P-Chem.bradmmm got an A in P-Chem.bradmmm got an A in P-Chem.bradmmm got an A in P-Chem.bradmmm got an A in P-Chem.bradmmm got an A in P-Chem.bradmmm got an A in P-Chem.bradmmm got an A in P-Chem.bradmmm got an A in P-Chem.bradmmm got an A in P-Chem.
 
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Originally Posted by darryl View Post
Welcome. Chronic illness is certainly no fun. Just the pain alone could well be the reason for your concentration and comprehension problems. I suspect that as your concentration and attention span builds through Manga that may well translate to Novels, though probably not overnight.

Best of luck. Mobileread members have many differences but we are united by one thing. Our love of books and reading.
It sure isn't! But I am making progress, which 18 months ago seemed completely impossible. Yeah, the pain itself is 100% the most limiting factor; it's hard to concentrate on anything when everything hurts :/ Though like I've already said, I've improved a shitload already, so I'm sure it'll keep improving!

The Forma is actually much easier for me to hold than a physical book as well, my hands and wrists are especially bad and that's obviously no good for holding books. Being able to switch the Forma between my two hands is amazing for giving the other a break, not to mention it's super light!

I'm determined and browsing through these forums is already motivating me. Maybe I should try to read some non-fiction since I struggle to absorb and remember the details of fictional worlds and characters. I've honestly never read any non-fiction and as embarrassing as that is, there's no better time to start than now!
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Old 12-04-2018, 07:02 AM   #4
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Dude, Brad, welcome! Have you tried revisiting some of your old childhood favorites? I used to be really into the Animorphs for example. They are short and there are many of them. Or you know... maybe try something on the mature end of the spectrum? ;-]

If pain is causing the problems focusing then your reading will likely follow a similar curve. But as for reading as a skill, once you do it consistently then I am certain your speed will pick up. But really, just chill. If I were you, I'd be loading up on that herbal goodness (depending on what state you live in) and reading all the manga I wanted. Don't be hard on yourself, read what you enjoy. It's not like it is for school and you aren't being graded

If you are bored, come hang out in the Lounge with us. It is a great way to build community and it is really just a bunch of silly nonsense.

*starts a chant going*
ONE OF US! ONE OF US! ONE OF US! ONE OF US! ONE OF US! ONE OF US!
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Old 12-04-2018, 07:05 AM   #5
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PS, get to your local library and see if they have OverDrive. Your Kobo can check out books, so you can look around while you are there, find something interesting and check it out. Way cheaper than buying books and not as much of a hassle as other methods of obtaining content.
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Old 12-04-2018, 07:28 AM   #6
bradmmm
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bradmmm got an A in P-Chem.bradmmm got an A in P-Chem.bradmmm got an A in P-Chem.bradmmm got an A in P-Chem.bradmmm got an A in P-Chem.bradmmm got an A in P-Chem.bradmmm got an A in P-Chem.bradmmm got an A in P-Chem.bradmmm got an A in P-Chem.bradmmm got an A in P-Chem.bradmmm got an A in P-Chem.
 
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Originally Posted by Pizza_Cant_Read View Post
Dude, Brad, welcome! Have you tried revisiting some of your old childhood favorites? I used to be really into the Animorphs for example. They are short and there are many of them. Or you know... maybe try something on the mature end of the spectrum? ;-]

If pain is causing the problems focusing then your reading will likely follow a similar curve. But as for reading as a skill, once you do it consistently then I am certain your speed will pick up. But really, just chill. If I were you, I'd be loading up on that herbal goodness (depending on what state you live in) and reading all the manga I wanted. Don't be hard on yourself, read what you enjoy. It's not like it is for school and you aren't being graded

If you are bored, come hang out in the Lounge with us. It is a great way to build community and it is really just a bunch of silly nonsense.

*starts a chant going*
ONE OF US! ONE OF US! ONE OF US! ONE OF US! ONE OF US! ONE OF US!
Ayyyyyy it may or may not be legal in my country, but let's just say it is cause hell yeah I indulge and hell yeah it helps me get through the day most days It's far from a cure of course, but it helps a lot and takes that edge off - some more than others but of course if we actually had some medical strains and a choice it would help a lot more. I love it regardless but I would kill to try out some high CBD strains for pain! And some high THC strains for reading manga and eating pizza lol.

I'm chill man and I'm loving the manga but I truly, really want to get back into reading novels because I used to love it and I know I still will when I manage to get back into it. I'm not forcing myself to do it, it's not like I'll stop reading manga now, I'm loving it - I just know that there's so many stories out there that I would dig, especially given I haven't read anything since about 13 years old there must be all sorts of good shit out there, I've never really read adult fiction and never read a thriller/horror or any fantasy outside of Artemis Fowl and Harry Potter all those years ago!

Don't worry, I've been getting blasted and reading manga and I plan on continuing that shit; hitting my vape and reading One Piece from the start to current chapter (914!!) is one of the best things I've done with my adult life! lmao. I won't read anything I don't enjoy, I just know that there's a lot that I would enjoy - as I said before, I've never read a thriller novel but I love a good thriller film so I can only imagine what I'm missing out on!

Yeah I'm probably just repeating myself cause at this very moment I'm vaping flower and reading manga hahaha but I am 100% set on finding some novels to try out over the holidays but of course, I'll take it hella slow and switch back to the manga whenever it frustrates me.

Cheers for the warm welcome, I think I just said the same thing 10 different ways but hey that's cool with me lol
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Old 12-05-2018, 10:47 PM   #7
bradmmm
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PS, get to your local library and see if they have OverDrive. Your Kobo can check out books, so you can look around while you are there, find something interesting and check it out. Way cheaper than buying books and not as much of a hassle as other methods of obtaining content.
Oh yeah, I've been meaning to check this out. I haven't stepped foot into a library since I was about 12 years old! 14 years ago! I just did some research and my local library does have OverDrive; I'm not sure how big their electronic library is, I can't find any info, but I guess I should just go sign up and then I'll be able to see

When I was originally researching e-readers, I remember reading something about a library in another country that accepts online applications from all over the globe but now that I have a Kobo and I'm interested in OverDrive, I can't for the life of me find any info! I don't suppose you know of any such international libraries?
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Old 12-05-2018, 11:54 PM   #8
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Old 12-06-2018, 12:12 AM   #9
bradmmm
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Oh nice, cheers brother.

This link to the wiki page is hella useful! Apparently there are two libraries I can join here in Australia without getting off my lazy ass and going anywhere haha
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