In Defense of Reading Slowly

I was listening to a podcast the other day, and the host made a comment about how we’re in an age of being more connected than ever, but also lonelier than ever. The dichotomy between sharing everything also leads to us feeling like we’re missing everything. This can relate to anything—travel, career growth, friendships, romantic relationships—but it also made me think about the way we share our reading journeys, and the way reading and reading “successfully” has evolved over time, particularly in the age of social media.

(Does This Query Taste Funny?)

With the popularity of book and reading apps growing, readers across the world share their annual reading goals. Reading goals almost always refers to the number of books a person hopes to read by the end of the year.

On paper, this makes perfect sense. The simplest way to track your reading success, of course, is by setting a total books goal and seeing if you meet it. There’s nothing inherently wrong with this, and obviously it works for most people. But this is certainly not the only measure of what it means to “read well” or to “read a lot,” is it?

I’m an editor here at Writer’s Digest and have been working as an editor for over a decade. I have a degree English literature with a focus in creative writing. You’re right to assume that I love to read, that it’s one of my favorite hobbies. I want to write because I love to read. So, it comes from a love of books when I tell you I personally don’t love tracking my reading accomplishments by the number of books read, and I simply don’t do it anymore. Hear me out.

I’ll speak from my own experience, but before I do: Whenever I advocate for slower reading, people tend to hear me say, “Reading fast is bad! Stop reading so fast and so many books!” That’s not even a little bit what I’m trying to convey here. I am not of the opinion that reading fast or reading a large quantity of books means you’re not reading as closely. If you personally read fast, if you have reading goals in the hundreds, this is not a takedown of those reading habits. Do you!

But it shouldn’t be a controversial take to say that reading communities by and large have redefined what it means to be an avid reader. In my personal and professional experience, nobody has come up to me and said, “I don’t feel like a reader because I read too fast.” But several people have reached out to me to say, “I read slowly, and I don’t feel like there’s space for me in reading groups.”

The average number of books the average person reads varies widely based on many factors, including location, access to books, education, and more. According to The Book Riot, “Reading habits vary widely from country to country. Literacy is directly tied to poverty, so indigent countries have lower averages. Cultural differences also contribute to reading rates, causing differences between countries that are relatively equally affluent.”

This means that for any number of reasons, the average number of books the average person reads in a year could be four books a year, 12 books a year, or even eight books a month. But if you peruse Booktok or Bookstagram, reading 50 to 100 to 200 books a year might seem like the norm, and an achievable goal for the casual reader. So, what happens when you set a goal of 50 books, and by the time December rolls around you “only” read 30? Was that a failed reading year? Do those 30 books not matter suddenly? (Spoiler alert: 30 books is a ton of books! Well done! Do nothing but celebrate that!)

Numbers goals with annual reading sets up an interesting relationship with failure that I think has the potential to be harmful to the creative process. Personally, I’m not interested in how many books you read in a year. I’m interested in what you read. You read three books last year? Awesome! Tell me about them! What genres? Who were the authors? What did you like about them? Would you recommend them? For writers, what did you learn from a craft perspective? Do you think you’ll try it on your own writing? Conversation and inclusivity—that’s what I’m interested in within the reading and writing community, regardless of peoples’ personal reading goals.

I made the conscience decision to stop tracking my reading in 2021 for many reasons. For starters, I am personally a very slow reader by nature. My reading skills are not in my speed, and every time I saw my reading goal and how far I was from achieving it, it made me feel like I was less of a reader, that I don’t deserve the career I’ve chosen, and embarrassed about how slow I read. Moreover, I realized that I would choose books that would help me get closer to my goal (shorter books) than books I actually wanted to read. My love for reading suffered, and when my reading suffers, so does my writing.

I’m also interested in other things besides reading—which isn’t unique, but means I tend to stretch my free time across different interests. I run regularly, I’m an avid film lover, I’m in a writing group and a book club, and I love to cook. I certainly read every day, but it’s not the only hobby I like to make space for every day. And that’s OK too! The more we do, the more we have to write about.

So, I shifted what it means for me to read well every year, and if you’re thinking of changing up your reading goals, here are a few tips.

Ignore the Internet

I know it’s hard, but what you see online is only a fraction of what everyone else experiences, and there are always a lot of reasons why something that is achievable for one person may not be realistic for you. In the case of Booktok and Bookstagram: People with bookish accounts are content creators, and their content of choice is books. They are naturally going to be reading more books than most readers because they want to but also because, frankly, they have to if they want to play the content game. Don’t be fooled; they experience burnout and reading slumps, too.

That’s not unique to publishing. You like to bake? If you follow bakers on Instagram, I’d reckon you’re not baking as often as them, nor as lavishly. That doesn’t mean you don’t like to bake or aren’t good at baking, right? Just ignore the internet. Use it for recommendations to add to your TBR pile, but don’t use to compare yourself to others.

Figure Out What You Like Most About Reading

When I allowed myself to slow down and read at a pace that felt more natural to me, I was reminded of what I love most about books—and by extension, the kinds of stories I want to tell. For me, it’s the literal reading experience. I’m not particularly worried about plot or structure, or even logic, so long as the reading experience was fulfilling. I love setting and atmosphere, I love unique descriptions of place and people.

Consider what you like most about reading and chase the books that incorporate those elements well.

Redefine What It Means to Read A Lot

You can read 100 books a year and that would be a lot; you can also read 10 books a year and that could also be a lot. It just depends on your life, your interests, your time, and your desire.

If reading a certain quantity of books feels stressful as a goal, then change out “a lot of books” for “a lot of genres.” If you’re reading fewer books, maybe your goal then is to read a totally new genre each time.

Maybe you read 10 authors you’ve never read before; maybe you read 10 debut authors. There are so many ways to be a well-read reader while keeping reading manageable to your life.

Do Whatever You Want

I know for some reason this can be a contentious topic, but my only interest is making space for all kinds of readers here at Writer’s Digest and beyond. While I do think it’s important for writers to always be reading something, the speed at which that “something” changes is entirely up to you. This is not a conversation of “one way or another” (cue the classic Blondie song here), it’s simply meant to reveal that there’s really no wrong way to love books.

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