Slow reading benefits || Why I am a slow reader

Hello book friends!

So today I wanted to gather some of my thoughts on reading and make a post like that. I have been a reader my whole life and I have been through all kinds of different phases with my reading habits. I have been a really fast reader, an all-over-the-place reader, a very selective reader, a mood reader, or a slower reader depending on my current mood and conditions in life. What I have deduced all those years is that there are as many types of readers as there are readers and most of us will probably fit into more than one of these "categories". I'm not going to talk about all of them, however. Today I wanted to talk about slow vs fast reading.

As I said previously, I've gone through a phase when I was a very fast reader, but this way of reading doesn't fit me anymore and it doesn't work for me for a couple of reasons. First of all, for practical reasons, my life is currently pretty busy and hectic so finding time for reading is rare and hard, so my reading time is limited even though I try to make the most of it. Secondly, my preference has changed through the years and I now enjoy much more reading slowly rather than fast and I don't see myself changing that any time soon. And lastly, I have come to realize that this way of reading is much more beneficial to me and had more to offer than my old ways.

Disclaimer: The reasons I'm about to list below are personal and not general rules. Any of the following could apply or not apply to you and on various levels. These are personal opinions and in no way do I want to say that my way is better than yours, or make it seem that I am better than anyone else. Whichever way of reading is best for you and works for you is the one you should follow and you don't have to agree with me or follow what I say. I simply wanted to state my views and use them as a chance for a conversation with all of you. 

So, with that out of the way, here are some of my reasons for reading slowly and some of the benefits I've found it has on me:

1. Reading slowly increases my understanding of the text/story: Not just on a surface level, meaning what happens to the story and how the characters interact, but also on a deeper level, like what each thing means to the characters and how it affects them.
2. It allows me to empathize more with the characters and get to know them better: Taking time to re-read a line or taking my time to read a dialogue can make me understand the characters better, "hear" their voices more distinctly, read between the lines and find any subtext there might be. In the end, I feel like taking the time to think about certain parts of the story can really help me understand all the motives and conflicts of a character, which in turn increases my enjoyment of the story.
3. It helps me analyze every aspect of the story: As you may have noticed if you've read my blog, I really enjoy over-analyzing stories and going to a deeper level with them. A story may be sci-fi or fantasy or whatever, but it may well carry lots of different themes and ideas that may be interesting to explore. I love finding all of these themes and messages and analyzing them as much as I can; the socio-economic commentary from the writer, the "peak" into the scary human future, the psychological repercussions of an important historical event, or even the importance of different kinds of relationships in our lives are only a few of the things we can find in stories and that we may want to talk about after consuming the story. I love taking a deep dive into all of these themes and over-analyzing them, especially the ones that I consider that concern me most, and reading slowly really helps me take this deep dive.
4. It helps me learn more and better: Lately, I have found out how to "read like a writer" and, since I really love writing and aspire to write my own story one day, I have tried as much as possible to "read like a writer". Which means to learn from what I read and always try to take something out of it, whether that is new vocabulary, learning how to use punctuation properly, or learning new techniques of writing, new expressions, and all kinds of new literary tools and devices. I have realized that this way of reading allows me to absorb all these writing and artistic details so that I can more easily and effectively use them in my own work and, consequently, improve the quality of my own writing. 
5. It helps me remember more parts of the story better: Just to clear this out, slow reading does not make the story itself more memorable, it cannot do that and I do not think it can be done with any way of reading. What makes a story essentially memorable is the content and nothing else. However, I have found that the slower reading helps me remember a little bit better the story, within of course what its content allows, and to keep it in my memory long-term. I don't really like it when I have read the book and I can't remember what it was about and why I liked it or disliked it. So devoting a bit more time to reading, comprehending, and approaching it from many different angles, I feel helps me with remembering more of the story better and cherishing it more, and this is a positive for me.
6. It prolongs the experience: This is most useful and desirable with the books that I actually love and enjoy, and that I want to make them last longer and I don't want them to be over. But it is not so great with the books that I don't enjoy and that I would rather get over with. So this one really depends on the book itself and I can make it last a longer or shorter time according to how much I enjoy each book. I have skim-read books quite a few times in the past if I've found them boring, but if they are nice I'm more likely to want to make it last longer.
7. It gives me the time to take notes: If I feel like there's something worth remembering and keeping written down or annotated I like to take the time to note it down to be able and appreciate it both at the given time and for future reference.
8. It's just pure preference and taste: In the end, this is what it all comes down to; how you personally enjoy and like to pass your time and it doesn't really need more reason than that. This is the way that helps me get more emerged in stories and that I feel was more beneficial to me. This is the way for me.

Now, there are of course a few downsides to this way of reading, just like there are with any other way of reading, that are worth mentioning too:

1. You don't get to read as many books as you'd wish: This method, of course, means that you'll read significantly fewer books than other readers that chose to read quickly and, as a consequence...
2. You get through your TBR list much more slowly and
3. It's a bit harder to reach your reading goals/challenges, or you have to set much smaller goals in order to make it
4. It's almost impossible to keep up with all the new books, all new releases, and all these books you've had an eye on for a while.
5. Re-reading books you've enjoyed in the past is almost out of the question: Not if you want to get through all these other new books you've been dying to read. It's not impossible, but it's surely rare and hard to do.

So, tell me, what type of reader are you? Do you prefer to read more quickly or slowly? Do you belong to any other "types" of readers? What do you enjoy more and why? I'd love to hear your thoughts! Feel free to share them!

For one more time, thank you for reading!

Until the next time!