Slow Reads
Change Your Reading Life
In 2022 I mentioned to my family that I had heard of someone reading War and Peace over an entire year and wasn’t that such a curious practice?! They nodded and smiled and I thought that was the end of that. Then on January 1, my son asked where he could find a copy of the book. Turns out the smiles and nods meant more than I thought!
I found us a stack of copies to read. The four oldest in the family each read a chapter a day on their own and then we talked together after our readings. Early in the year I happened upon Simon Haisell from Footnotes and Tangents. It was helpful to have his insightful commentary and art to accompany the book.
Through the years we have read,
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy (2023)
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (2024)
The Divine Comedy by Dante (2024)
Les Miserables by Victor Hugo (2025)
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy (2026)
This year, our oldest has started college and the youngest is now 13. So our reading foursome has changed a little. Even though we have a strong read aloud tradition, these year-long slow reads have been a boon. Over the course of the year, the characters come to inhabit our imaginations. Sharing the stories slowly, over the year opens up a new way of reading, one centered on companionship and deep attention. Instead of rushing through, we linger. Instead of just getting through a big classic, we grow + change alongside the characters.
In 2023, throughout the year as we finished sections of the novel, we also watched the Soviet era movie version of War and Peace.
In 2024 we watched the lush, thoroughly modern 1934 black and white version of Les Miserables. There is blessedly no singing in this version and Jean Valjean is perfectly cast.
Slow reads are the perfect way to reset your relationship with reading. You only read a couple of pages a day. By the end of the year, you’ve read a substantial book. I think you should join in and read W + P, but if you aren’t ready for that, Kristine Benoit de Bykhovetz hosts slow looking deep dives into paintings
And Amy Bowers is hosting a slow(ish) read of How to Do Nothing by Jenny Odell.
The best thing about slow reads is that there is space to read other things as well! Just now, I’m off to meet Anna at the train station—imagine not introducing your title character until page 137!
What are you reading in the new year?
I am making a microseasons poetry zine for my paid subscribers this month. I’d love to send one your way!
I found a serendipitous copy of Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset at a used book store recently after looking for years. I think it will be my slow read of 2026.
I just started a War & Peace slow read with @simonhaisell and thought of another book that receives wonderful praise but I struggled to read through even though I enjoyed it: The Overstory by Richard Powers. Has anyone seen a slow read led for this one?