I know exactly what it was for me. I used to read all the time in elementary and middle school, right up until 7th grade. To encourage kids to read, they implemented a reading requirement from 1st grade and up.
Upon completion of a quiz, every book with a length of ten pages or longer awarded a point per ten pages. Depending on the grade level, Five to twenty points a month were required for a satisfactory mark. Points did not carry over from month to month.
All the avid readers in my class quickly came up against the same issue - we were reading fucking novels like Eragon and Harry Potter, and they were individually good for one month each. After that, we had to start fishing for things to read, and what was once a treat became a chore, simply because we had to do it for a reason other than the enjoyment of the story. I remember getting chewed out for doing a quiz for an Amelia Bedilia book because it was on the list and I couldn’t be assed to read something more challenging to top up my points.
Similar here. The “you need to read through page 95 by Thursday” for years ruined it for me. For over a decade after leaving school whenever I’d try to read something I’d just obsess over the page numbers and how long until a chapter break. It’s only very recently I’ve managed to get mostly past that and actually been able to get into what I’m reading.
I know exactly what it was for me. I used to read all the time in elementary and middle school, right up until 7th grade. To encourage kids to read, they implemented a reading requirement from 1st grade and up.
Upon completion of a quiz, every book with a length of ten pages or longer awarded a point per ten pages. Depending on the grade level, Five to twenty points a month were required for a satisfactory mark. Points did not carry over from month to month.
All the avid readers in my class quickly came up against the same issue - we were reading fucking novels like Eragon and Harry Potter, and they were individually good for one month each. After that, we had to start fishing for things to read, and what was once a treat became a chore, simply because we had to do it for a reason other than the enjoyment of the story. I remember getting chewed out for doing a quiz for an Amelia Bedilia book because it was on the list and I couldn’t be assed to read something more challenging to top up my points.
Similar here. The “you need to read through page 95 by Thursday” for years ruined it for me. For over a decade after leaving school whenever I’d try to read something I’d just obsess over the page numbers and how long until a chapter break. It’s only very recently I’ve managed to get mostly past that and actually been able to get into what I’m reading.