I have experienced a similar dip in the level of, uh, retention and engagement that books can elicit from me. Recently I kind of feel it turning around, and the

I have experienced a similar dip in the level of, uh, retention and engagement that books can elicit from me. Recently I kind of feel it turning around, and there seem to be two main causes: using time on airplanes to get deep into a book, and intentionally seeking out books that would suit my taste. The airplane thing is a small one and may or may not suit your lifestyle. But the bigger thing is that as a child or a teen, everything is new to you. There are some books that are just about guaranteed to suck you in and expand your worldview if you've never encountered them before. They are the low-hanging-fruit curriculum books that just about anyone will benefit from. Once you've exhausted the Catch-22s, the Mark Twains, the Tolkiens or Austens or Heinleins of the world, you'll have to spend more effort to find books that really resonate with you. For me, this meant following sites like The Baffler and Electric Literature. I hope if you figure out where online people are reviewing and promoting the books you enjoy, you'll find yourself funneled toward books that are capable of drawing you in again. As a concrete recommendation, I just finished The Overstory by Richard Wright, which won the Pulitzer Prize in fiction this year, and absolutely could not put it down.