Slowing Down Your Reading

Sometimes we just need to enjoy the book.

It's easy to get caught up in your reading challenge on Good Reads, try to keep up with book club members and how many books they are reading, or love a quick read. I'm guilty of all of the above. This year I have learned to slow down my reading and enjoy it.

It was not a lesson I thought I needed or would learn but sometimes this is the best part of reading. This year I've read a couple of books that have taken me a long time to get through for one reason or another. While eagerly trying to push myself through I continued reading and saw the benefits of slowing down my reading for the ending and to enjoy the entire story.

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store took me a long time to read and it is a long book. The first half is dedicated to all of the character's back stories and while my friends encouraged me to keep reading I was unsure and was getting impatient throughout the book. The more I read and saw the little nuggets and details the more I started to immerse myself in the story, take my time, and soak it all in. The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store is one I will be glad I got through and all of the details and reading paid off in the end.

This year I also read The Things We Leave Unfinished it was not my favorite book. It has two plots and I loved one and struggled through the other. I could sit down and read a couple of chapters of the storyline I liked and enjoyed it the plot line I wasn't a fan of took me a while and I wasn't motivated to keep reading. I debated giving up but was invested in the characters and wanted to see what happened to them. I'm glad I finished because the ending has a large plot twist that made the book worth it. And both storylines tied together making me appreciate the parts I struggled through.

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store and The Things We Leave Unfinished taught me about slowing my reading down and finishing a book. Reading isn't a race but a hobby that you can enjoy while taking in some great stories, even if the best parts don't come till the end of the book.

This is your reminder to slow down your reading and enjoy what you are reading no matter how long it takes you to finish a book.