I’ve been reading quite a decent amount since I was a kid, and I’m now in my late 20’s. I’ve recently realized that the books I’ve read in the last couple of years, I struggle to remember much about them.
I can remember the general outline of the story, or most of the major plot points, but any character names or place names I struggle to remember.
I’ve been going through and reading many fantasy/sci-fi series, and it usually feels like once I get to book 2 of whatever new series I’ve picked up, I can’t remember the previous series I read.
For example, I’m currently reading The Thief series, and really enjoying it. However I’m finding that I can’t remember much of the names or characters from the Red Rising series, which I read just before this. I can remember most of what happens, and I remember really enjoying it, but names just get lost entirely.
If you were to ask me what happens in the books I read the last couple of years, I would be able to tell you in quite decent detail, but I’d struggle with any names.
The only exceptions are books I read when I was young, like the Lord of the Rings books or the Hyperion books.
Does anyone else have this issue? How can I better remember details like this?
i also have similar memory issues, but unless you dedicate extra effort just to remember this it’s really hard to do. i think it’s probably related to what you (and your brain) categorize as relevant. in my case i just don’t care, i usually remember who the characters are based on other stuff. there are some cases where you do need to remember the names though, like if you read books with a ton of characters. in those cases having some notes could be useful. but all in all i think people could learn to appreciate works without the need to understand everything. you were a bit high when you read that chapter? no worries, you’ll fit the pieces at one point. unless you’re studying the book, a lot of times it’s not necessary to do those things. reading is a balance between fun, comprehension and context.