Hi guys, i haven't posted in a few months, but i'm at an all time high. I'm finding, however that I'm a lot more sensitive to what I read in books. I'm in the book reading business, and it's hard to not find, or seek out, triggers. When I read a book, I'm more than entertained. A good book captures you in an amazing plot. I'm just wondering, how do other people cope? What constitutes a fall? I mean, some of the stuff I read is equivalent to an inappropriate scene inside a movie. Am I in a perpetual state of slips (assuming I just read) or is it more? Sometimes I'll pick up an amazing book and look for the inappropriate material but not "act out." Am I ok if I read the scene, don't act out, and then promise not to return to that inappropriate part? It's not like there's a filter I can install on the books i read. What's the line?

Why don't you consult with a rav.

I am wondering if you really aren't reading the whole book in fact for those very parts. That indeed you just may be fooling yourself.
I know when I used to visit world news sights I was in fact(although I didn't realize it at first) looking for subtle, and not so subtle triggers. I learned on GYE to just stay away from these sights altogether.
I am so much happier for it.
What are your thoughts?

Have you ever read read some of the Jewish history books of Rabbi Wein. They are phenomenal. -full of action- drama- they too are hard to put down.
Besides which they really happened.

Thanks, I will definitely give Rabbi Wein a try.

My job is to read as many books as possible, critique them, and then match them up into the classroom for my students. I am not going to lie, there are times where I read and I am looking for a trigger. It only became a problem recently, however, when I started cutting out shmutz and being more careful.

B"H, I've made serious progress, a lot of thanks goes to this website, but this recently has become a problem because I've cut out the big triggerswith no outlet. The only plus (so far) is that the trigger doesn't set off a full out slip like it would have in the past.

it is a stage...we are still holdin' onto to our dear lust.....i do it with music

I've found temptation in some of the holiest of books, I'm ashamed to say. Heck, even things on this forum, as censored as they are, could send a recovering addict's imagination down the wrong path! So the problem might not be the reading material at all; it might mean that you're not meeting those potential triggers with the right mindset.

We'll never be able to eradicate all of the temptations in the universe, try as we might. There's no universe-filter. Sooner or later, something clean and innocent is going to make us think bad things, and it won't be that thing's fault in any way. If we're at the point where we've accepted our OWN powerlessness over this, then this sort of micromanagement might not be necessary. Of course, it's still good practice to avoid overtly smutty literature, etc., and even things that have potential for triggering thoughts. But, believe me, an addict can find SOMETHING bad in a textbook about WWII fighter planes.