Slow Reading
This article was very timely because I showed the ChickieNob my Goodreads 2022 challenge, and I’m behind last year’s final tally by about 20 books. It doesn’t feel like I’m reading less, and the books I’m currently reading may be longer than those I read last year. I won’t know the final page tally until Goodreads tells me at the end of the year. I felt weirdly embarrassed about it.
But this spoke to me:
There is something about churning through books that induces envy and even admiration, never more than at this time of year when piles of finished tomes are splashed across social media. Bragging rights seem to go to those who have read lots of books and read them quickly – how many times have you seen someone boast about finishing 10 books in a year? What about five? But there is power in reading slowly, something the Chinese-American author Yiyun Li tells her creative writing students at Princeton University.
I like the idea of spending extra time immersed in a world or living with the characters. I’ve also been rotating through multiple books, reading a few at a time, so I’m picking up what I’m in the mood for at the moment.
I may read fewer books this year, but I savour stories. It’s nice to be handed a reason.
5 comments
My reading has really slowed this year, but not because I’m savoring anything. Maybe I’ll feel like reading again next year…
Oh, Absolutely!! There are books whose pace needs slow savoring… or worlds one doesn’t want to exit. I’m rereading Anna Karenina on a whim, and it’s so different than when I read it for a class. Rereading is something book tallies don’t reflect either, right?
Yes! And there are some books that just take longer to get through. I’m thinking of Mark Lewisohn’s book about the Beatles, “All These Years, Vol 1.” Massive, something like 900 pages — and that was the abridged version!! It took me months to get through, but I loved every page, including the footnotes — just packed with delicious detail. Same with “Into the Silence” by Wade Davis.
I’m just past my Goodreads goal for this year (45 books). It’s possible I might make 50, which would be nice, but I definitely won’t be reaching or surpassing the 59 I read last year. But that’s OK.
I don’t keep track. That sounds like work and reading is what I do for fun!
That said, I read or reread or DNF several trashy romance novels/ novellas a week. So if I did keep track (which again, sounds like the opposite of fun) it would sound like bragging. Even though I’m sure it would take me months to get through Anna Karenina or a massive biography on the Beatles. Heck, it often takes me a couple weeks to get through a mystery novel.
Oh, I like this. I had years where I kept track obsessively (I mean, I still keep track, but I’m removing the pressure), and I would actually choose books, especially over the summer, based on whether or not I could finish it quickly. Ew. I would pass over longer books or more dense books to hit a count. Which is not how you savor books! This year I have read less but I probably have read more pages and read more varied titles. I’m for the savoring!