The Joy of Slow Reading: Why We Should Savor Stories

There’s something special about a book that sticks with you—the kind of story that lingers in your mind long after you’ve turned the last page. The world moves fast, and everything seems designed for quick consumption, but I’ve come to appreciate the slower, more intentional rhythm of reading at my own pace.

For a long time, I felt like I had to rush through books, to keep up with recommendations, to count how many I’d finished rather than focus on what I actually took from them. But the best books aren’t meant to be rushed. They deserve time—time to sink in, time to be fully experienced.

Now, as a mother, I feel this even more. Life is busy and beautifully chaotic, filled with little hands reaching for me, laughter echoing through the house, and days that fly by. My reading time looks different now—quiet moments in the early morning before anyone else wakes, a few pages while rocking a baby to sleep, a book resting beside me while my little ones play. I don’t have the luxury of long, uninterrupted reading sessions, but I’ve come to love the slow, steady way I move through books now, savoring every moment I get.

It reminds me a lot of working with leather. Crafting something by hand takes patience, care, and an appreciation for the process. There’s no rushing it. A good book is the same—it unfolds in its own time, rewarding the reader who slows down enough to really take it in. And just like a well-worn leather piece, a book that’s read over time, carried through different seasons of life, becomes even more special.

There’s something really nice about slowing down like that. Setting a book down just to let a passage sink in. Running your fingers over the leather bookmark tucked inside, feeling its worn edges while your mind is still lost in the story. Carrying a book in your bag, not to rush through it, but just because you like knowing it’s there when you need a moment to escape.

The stories that stay with us aren’t always the ones we read the fastest. They’re the ones we let sink in, the ones we come back to, the ones we really live with. And in a world that moves so fast, I think that kind of reading matters now more than ever.