How to Read Books Fast in History Grad School
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I finished grad schoolhouse nine years ago and my reading habits take been different always since. I even so love books, but information technology took time to commencement reading again subsequently grad school. When I was an English major who loved Victorian novels, and and then an MA student with a focus on 19th century literature, I truly enjoyed plowing through long, dense novels past Dickens, Eliot, and the Brontës. Spending my MA year immersed in the fiction I loved so much was a privilege. Naturally, I thought I'd continue to read those books in one case I finished. Subsequently all, there were and then many I hadn't yet gotten to!
But I didn't. In fact, I didn't even want to look at some other 19th century novel. I started and lost interest in Jude the Obscure then many times it became a running joke with friends. I felt similar I'd lost a big office of my "reading identity," but that did go out me with time to read new books.
No matter what yous studied in higher or grad schoolhouse, you lot probably had to practice a lot of reading. Biology textbooks and legal case studies are enervating, too. And when that's all you take fourth dimension to read, your encephalon becomes peculiarly attuned to that globe or writing style. Information technology's a shock to end grad schoolhouse, realize you have complimentary time for reading for fun…and and then feel similar throwing away all your books and never reading anything again. Your brain is tired. Information technology thinks of reading equally a job. It needs to learn how to have fun with books again.
Though for a while I felt guilty every time I spotted the pristine unread re-create of Our Mutual Friend on my bookshelf, the truth was that my brain needed a break from all that dense 19th century prose. I longed for snappy modern writing, light romances, cozy murder mysteries, quirky nonfiction — basically every book but that copy of The Mayor of Casterbridge I swore I'd read once I had fourth dimension. And after a few years of reading everything and anything but Victorian fiction, reading in one case again became a treasured hobby and not the source of late-night anxiety virtually finishing a book in time for a seminar.
Here'due south how I learned to starting time reading once more later on grad school, forth with some other tips that might assistance you rediscover your love of reading for fun.
ane. Read Something Completely Different
This sounds very obvious to me at present, just information technology took me a while to realize that I could really read other, different books after my MA. I didn't feel like reading Victorian novels anymore but I felt like I should? But no! There is no "should" when y'all first reading again after grad school. You have no papers to write or seminars to attend. Did you do a graduate degree in anthropology? Read some children'south books! Former chemistry major? Detect some poetry (I recommend the anthology Gear up Me on Fire, in which poems are categorized according to mood — then smart). Instead of Victorian novels, I read a ton of immature adult novels, memoirs, and brand-new fiction.
2. Read Effectually Your Interests
Let's say yous did your graduate caste in ancient Greek history. Instead of busting out the Homer, endeavor a novel set during that time period, like A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes. Maybe you studied a item period of Ethnic history in North America. You can branch out a fiddling with a new horror novel by an Indigenous writer, like The Merely Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones. There are millions of books in the world — trust me, there volition be i about your super niche research. My research involvement was the depiction of rabies in 19th century print civilisation, especially in the novels of Charlotte Brontë. Pretty specific…and yet a calendar month before I finished my degree, the book Rabid, a very entertaining cultural history of rabies, came out. Information technology was a perfect thing to read once I was done considering it explored the topic I'd just poured tons of time into researching, simply with an engaging, conversational approach.
three. Don't Read At All — Only Stay Literature-Adjacent
You may not want to read anything at all for a while. And that'south totally fine! Reading is supposed to be a fun hobby and if you lot're not having fun for a while, just have a remainder. What you can do instead to stay volume-next: watch movies and shows based on books; talk nigh old favorite books with friends; do a Marie Kondo-style book weeding; read volume websites (like, ahem, Volume Riot) then you're up to speed on all the heady new releases when you are fix to go dorsum to it; follow some Bookstagrammers and merely look at pretty covers.
4. Read With Purpose By Starting a Book Club or Reading Project
One of the things I missed the virtually afterward finishing grad school was being in a room with smart people all talking about the aforementioned book. I'd gotten used to reading deeply and having great conversations with other people in my programme, and I felt the absenteeism of that nigh immediately. In the next few years, I joined two volume clubs and found a similar way of engaging with literature (with the added bonus of vino and snacks). Thanks to book clubs, I read everything from Tom Wolfe's The Bonfire of the Vanities to Shyam Selvadurai'due south Swimming in the Monsoon Sea. You can start your own book club! And it can be virtually whatever you want.
Some other fun thing that mimics the structured reading of grad school is starting a reading project. This could be a Bookstagram account, a web log, or merely a reading list of books on a particular topic you've always wanted to learn more about. Maybe you lot desire to reread every unmarried Sweet Valley High book or start an Instagram of all-time book covers.
5. Read Slowly and Let Yourself Have Breaks
I remember this is the best way to start reading over again later grad school. SLOWLY. And so much of a reading-intensive grad program involves reading at a breakneck pace, skimming chapters, cramming for class the side by side 24-hour interval — it's hard to remember that now you tin slow down and savor your book. When I first finished grad schoolhouse and was feeling specially done with reading, I'd read only on the subway during my commute to work. Information technology was a brusque, defined window of time and an piece of cake way to build books into my routine without much pressure. Sometimes I decided to people watch or listen to music instead. It took me forever to end books. I vividly remember conveying around Birds of America past Lorrie Moore for ii months. Merely at that place'southward no time limit on finishing a book in the real earth. And somewhen, that daily routine reminded me how to relax into a novel instead of speed-reading it to come up with three insightful things to say about it.
half-dozen. Don't Guess Yourself
The less pleasant side of grad school is contest and intellectual superiority. Particularly in an English language programme, you spend a lot of fourth dimension reading books that have been deemed "classics" (by whom? Probably white men). It'southward perfectly fine, even good, to read books outside that very narrow section of the shelf. Read romance novels, murder mysteries, sci-fi, and fantasy. Read the dishy Hollywood memoir that your mom's volume club loved. Read anything that sounds expert to you, and remember that a pink comprehend or a celebrity endorsement doesn't automatically mean 1 volume is less "serious" than another. I recently read Kevin Kwan's Sex activity and Vanity, a glitzy retelling of E.M. Forster'south A Room with a View. Information technology was both wildly entertaining and a smart update of a classic.
By following these six tips, over time, I learned how to start reading again afterwards grad school. Whether yous want a encephalon vacation after reading and then much philosophy or to find the aforementioned intellectual fulfillment you felt during seminars about medieval history, at that place is a path back to reading for fun! As for me, I did eventually finish Jude the Obscure even though I had to take it on two vacations and to the laundromat several times before I did. But I'll be honest: I haven't actually returned to Victorian novels, fifty-fifty though it's been nine years. I'm more likely to accomplish for nearly anything else on my bookshelf. I exercise watch movies and shows based on my favorite 19th century novels, talk almost them with friends, and read books inspired by them. That part of my "reading identity" is in my life, but in a different way correct now. I will happily talk most Jane Austen heroes for hours. And I know that some mean solar day I'll pick up Dickens once more — this time but for fun.
Source: https://bookriot.com/reading-again-after-grad-school/
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