4 Books That Made Me Love Reading Again

In this video, I'm sharing some of my favorite books that made me love reading again. These are works of literature and philosophy that helped me break out of a long slump in which I had almost totally stopped reading for pleasure.

Enjoy!

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These are affiliate links with Amazon. The channel earns a commission from each purchase — but it doesn't cost you anything.

[hippo]

In 2010, I had two strokes that affected the language centers of my brain. I could not read because I couldn't understand the letter and meaning. Four years later, my wife took me to the local library, where I got a library card, again. I checked out the book, "Star Trek Vanguard book 1" by David Mack. It took me a year and half to read it. That is the book that got me reading, again. David Mack is a wonderful writer and his books have been great resources to help me read.
Now, I read about 5 books a year and I am finishing my associates degree.

[jamesbattista]

With the help of a wonderful sophomore HS teacher, I read "Crime and Punishment" in 1974. I STILL see the mental images I had created as I read it. I almost never re-read, but now that I'm in my 7th decade, I see the absolute value of doing just that. I would place this book in the number 1 position for re-reading. I need to get busy with that, before life completely slips through my fingers and I start the worm farm.

[hopelore]

I read Crime and Punishment earlier this year. It's one of my favorites now and made me pick up everything else by Dostoevsky 😂

[tenshi_tries]

Crime & Punishment (translated by Michael Katz) was the book that made me discover my love for reading. I had no idea back then what was an easy or a hard read and I think it helped. I never read for fun before C&P. It’s been 10 months since and I’ve read 66 books so far!

[deadaccount-tn]

I'm so glad to have found your channel! Content like yours is unique and exactly the motivation I needed to start reading philosophy. You truly deserve more recognition

[jaye]

The Brothers Karamazov is my all time favourite novel, and I cannot see anything surpassing it. Dostoevsky in general is on a level of his own in my mind, Crime and Punishment is in my top 5, The Idiot, Notes from Underground, all just incredible. :)

[InfiniteText]

I had the same thing happen after an English degree. The books that got me back were Herman Hesse's Glass Bead Game, Thoreau's Walden, the Necronomicon, and David Foster Wallace essays. I later fell in love with Halldor Laxness but that was after I got back in the groove. If you love LeGuin and Pratchett I highly recommend you watch the booktuber Kalanadi (Rachel). She read all the books from both authors and she's pretty amazing. Great video and happy reading!

[philipswain]

Science fiction was my first deep dive into literature. I was about nine years old and discovered Issac Asimov. He is part of my own canon with philosophy, Ancient Greek, the biblical corpus and the classics. Then about ten years ago, I became very sick and my focus shifted on a battle to stay alive. Reading took a back seat during that time. I’m only now rekindling that spark. Hunter S Thomson’s gonzo work is a breath of fresh air. I plan to slowly move back into Homer et al.

[vincentwilliamcarmichael]

I'm trying to reignite my love for reading in this very moment. I feel in love with reading by way of The Lord of the Rings more than 20 years ago. I then began consuming fantasy at (for me at least) a breakneck pace. I use to scour used bookstores, thrift stores, libraries and more for every fantasy or science fiction book I could purchase. It became an obsession. But eventually with work and other responsibilities and a mini personal crisis I just stopped reading. I still purchased books, but I didn't read.
Recently, for the sake of my sanity I've decided to find and make the time to fall in love with reading again. And I just finished the first book during this reignition phase last night; Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. I was thrilled to hear that it was one of the three books that helped rekindle your passion for reading. I am pulled towards a lot of spirituality, philosophy, religion, etc. nowadays, but I also want to read sci-fi/fantasy again, and the classics.
Thank you for sharing this video... it really feels like a sort of defining synchronistic moment for me. This was my first Dostoyevsky novel and I loved it! I love Le Guin... I don't remember if I've read The Dispossessed, but I have it and will read or re-read soon. I also have many of Terry Pratchett's Disc World books, but I've yet to read any of them. You've given me the inspiration to begin. Thank you again! And I wish you continued success with The Classical Mind.

[sophiaisabelle]

Books have shaped our mindsets over the decades. They have taught us valuable principles that are useful in the real world. Thanks for this video. I’m sure this will further interest other people to start reading books and love literature for what it truly is.

[taylorbarringer]

I wanted to get back into reading this year after a few years of a slump. Went to a local used book store and found Lords and Ladies by Terry Pratchett and had the same reaction being introduced to Discworld. It was exactly what I needed.

[ACD]

You had me at, the 'Dispossessed' is, a book that feels like a conversation, I'm not too much of a Sci-Fi reader, but you make it sound interesting and worthwhile, I might have to keep my eyes peeled for this one.

[margett__]

Discovered your channel recently, absolutely love your content! As a dropout philosophy student who suffered from loosing their interest to all the forms of written word, I'm so glad you decided to cover this topic. I relate to 'breaking up with philosophy' feeling so much as I'm still recovering from the breakup 😄I'm slowly getting back to 'reading for fun' mode and it's super interesting to learn what books revived your interest and brought back the spark. As a Russian, I'm thrilled to see Dostoevsky in the list. You're so on point about his sense of humor, and this is precisely what makes the man one of the greatest. So glad the translation in combination with your attentive reading did it justice and the jokes weren't missed. I read 'Crime & Punishment' many years ago as it was required reading in high school. It would be interesting to get back to the novel to see how it differs from what I remember it to be, so thanks for the mention. Happy to have found your channel, keep up the good work ☺

[karenbird]

I still adore my Kindle, and hopefully, I will never have to give it up. I moved recently and I had to get rid of 75% of my physical books (I had over 3, 000 books) Thankfully, I don't miss the books because of my Kindle.

[onefordespair]

Would LOVE a LeGuin video!! This one was great too. Happy to hear her name.

[empiricus]

I really like your channel! a great companion on the (sometimes scary) journey of self-education. Please keep going! All the best, Max

[pattube]

Katz translation of C&P is outstanding (and my personal favorite alongside Oliver Ready)! Plus it has a blurb on the front cover from your fellow BookTuber Steve Donoghue. 😊

[RozMazov]

Amazing. The Dispossessed was the first book I’ve finished in a long time. I can really relate to what you said about it.

[stephanieribeiro]

I can relate so much! I'm finishing my degree in philosophy and I feel completely tired of reading for fun. Also when I read for fun is difficult to enjoy it because I keep trying to find structures and arguments in it.

[lindawhitehead]

I have observed that the books people love are connected to their temperament and personality...For example, I read all of Lord of the Rings and then said, Where are the women? I often balk at a masculine mindset. I was actually surprised to realise this about myself...
One of my all time favourites is Middlemarch by George Eliot...It is a wonderful exploration of character. A more recent enthusiasm is Wolf Hall, by Hilary Mantell...Pulled me into the world of thomas Cromwell totally...
Anyhow always fun to encounter other readers of novels.