deRpanDec 18
Dr. Victoria Grinberg

52!

It's the first time since 2020 that I managed to read a book for every week of the year. I'm really happy and proud I did.

I need reading to quiet my mind - but also reading is one of the things that are gone when I'm in certain bad places mentally.

Getting back into the reading habit (although what I read did change) is hard work, but it's paying off. More reading, less scrolling. I need to remind myself of this. And if I slip, try again. Let it go and try again. And again.

Dec 18 at 5:36pmWeb
Show threadMel S.Dec 18

@vicgrinberg Congratulations! 🧡 After having read many books in the last years, this year will be my worst reading year. But I just restarted my habit this week and noticed again how good it is for me.

PS: I gifted your book to someone a few weeks ago and she just began to read it right in that moment. 😁 I totally forgot to mention that!

Show threadDr. Victoria GrinbergDec 19

@melsdung I hope you get back into the habit 💚 But some time periods are just what they are (it took me quiet a while to disentangle why I could not read for a while and why mainly non-fiction worked during this time even though I'm mainly a fiction reader).

And oh, how lobely to hear 💚💚 you made my day! Hearing about my own book "in the wild" making other people happy is such a great feeling!

Show threadSteve BradyDec 18
@vicgrinberg
I get confused about how I'm doing when I read ebooks. Yes, I'm reading a book not doomscrolling, but I'm still looking at my tablet. Should I read a paper book before bed?
Show threadDr. Victoria GrinbergDec 19
@stevebrady I personally don't like tablets ot ereaders, but that's a personal preference (with tablets, it's also because of get distracted by other things I can use it for, with ereaders because I like paper books and their persistency). But people are different and I have friends who mainly read ebooks. Whatever works best for you?
Show threadSteve BradyDec 19
@vicgrinberg
I like paper books but I have too many of them and not enough space.
Show threadDr. Victoria GrinbergDec 20
@stevebrady feel ya on that...
Show threadJana WekelDec 18
That's awesome to hear, congratulations!
Show threadDr. Victoria GrinbergDec 19
@jana-w.bsky.social 💚 and us discussing books in our calls helps a lot, too. I'm the kind of person who also needs to share and here from others to keep going and to get inspired.
Show threadJana WekelDec 19
Same here 💚 can't wait to hear more about what you've been reading lately!
Show threadDr. Victoria GrinbergDec 20
@jana-w.bsky.social it's mostly vacation reads from now on until I'm back, I think 😅 my brain needs this.
Show threadNeil MoffattDec 18
@vicgrinberg Fabulous. Well done. The patience and attention for reading is lost in many these days it seems. Do you read fiction or non-fiction or a mix? I read too much non-fiction so went to my library and picked out 2 fiction books to try. So far so good.
Show threadDr. Victoria GrinbergDec 19
@NicelyManifest I read a mix, maybe 1/4 non-fiction, 3/4 fiction, although there are quiet some books are on the verge (never know where to place something like Lea Ypi's "Free"). I do read a lot of scientific literature for work, so kinda a) don't want it in my free time b) have almost ridiculous expectations for non-fiction and providing citations and sources because of how I'm trained to read non-fiction 😅 That said, when my brain is in bad places non-fiction works better than fiction.
Show threadDr. Victoria GrinbergDec 19
@NicelyManifest hope the fiction books keep working for you! Sometimes I do find it really hard to find something that's not just my cup of tea, but also the right cup of tea at a given moment, sometimes I need a strong black and sometimes it's chamomile... 😅
Show threadNeil MoffattDec 19
@vicgrinberg Very much so. On that subject, I make a 1.9 litre flask of green tea every day. So that it is literally on tap. If I do not drink any, 24 hours later the tea is still hot.
Show threadNeil MoffattDec 19
@vicgrinberg Thanks Victoria. Fascinating to hear the views of others as we humans vary so much ... I agree that non-fiction tends to be more reliable. Baffles me that some highly rated fiction just jumps around all over the place with long digressions that I cannot perceive what the actual story is.
Show threadJohnsDec 18
@vicgrinberg 👏 👏 👏
Show threadDr. Victoria GrinbergDec 19
@Johns_priv 💚
Show threadYannick A. HaarschnittDec 18
@vicgrinberg You are my hero. I still try to get back to reading.
Show threadDr. Victoria GrinbergDec 19
@impulse9 💚 if this helps: it took me years and it's still often a fight (especially on the days/during the weeks when I would need it most) and it really depends on what the world is like and how much my brain is triggered by it. But it's still sooo~ worth it. So: don't give up!
Show threadAethelDec 19
@vicgrinberg okok but how do you retain all those books in your memory?
Show threadDr. Victoria GrinbergDec 19
@Aethel what a ridiculous idea that reading is about remembering the details of every single book. See here: https://mastodon.social/@vicgrinberg/115054349302146150
Show threadAethelDec 19
@vicgrinberg if i read about german medical experiments in auschwitz and i get a chance to visit the place years later, id like to be able to recall the details to fully appreciate what happened. If i read about economy, id like to be able to remember that when watching the news to fully understand what are the implications of a political decision. Dont think its such a ridiculous concept,isnt it?
Show threadDr. Victoria GrinbergDec 19

@Aethel first of all: please leave Auschwitz out of random the examples as much as you'd like to use it to shock & make a point (you never know the background of the people you speak with; this Jew lost a lot of family during WWII).

Secondly, it still is. One of the main thing one needs to remember as (higher education) teacher is that learning is very little about remembering minute facts, but about an understanding for the large concepts and large contexts and knowing where to look up.

Show threadJulianDec 19
@vicgrinberg Congratulations 🥳 I am currently at 44 of 52 books. I will finish a few more books until the end of the year so I will nearly reach the goal. It was an amazing reading year and I would recommend to everyone to try the same. :)
Ditch social media and open a book.
Show threadDr. Victoria GrinbergDec 20
@mialikescoffee yay, that's quiet a feat to have gotten to the number! Celebrating with you - and hope there were mang great books among the 44+ 😊
Show threadJoe (TBA)Dec 19

@vicgrinberg Wow, that's an impressive feat. I have purchased 52 books this year, with the intention of reading them, but only hit about 20.

Congratulations!

Show threadDr. Victoria GrinbergDec 20
@RegGuy 20 is a great number, too! 😊 I feel like my purchasing and my reading aren't often in synch - I did manage to buy less than I read this year, but overall I buy to have a choice whenever a mood strikers for a certain kind of book, not to read the same moment (mostly).
Show threadIris VolkDec 19
@vicgrinberg Wow! I'm far from that. Very well done.
Show threadDr. Victoria GrinbergDec 22
@funkvolk I still hope that even if it's less books for you, that you majorly enjoyed it! (And I can well imagine that taking time for reading is harder when it's such a major part of one's main job)
Show threadJuliDec 19
Are you still tracking your books somewhere? I miss seeing your updates/recs on goodreads.
Show threadDr. Victoria GrinbergDec 21
@ohaijuli.bsky.social I uae StoryGraph to track online but mostly it's an handmade table nowaways where I track all the details 😬 I kinda miss the goodreads recs, though...