This brief, attractively designed book is a master's thesis. It reads like a master's thesis. It is very, very important that readers, information science professionals, and policy-makers read this cogent, well-argued tract on the role of reading and the varying styles that reading follows.

John Miedema writes with concision and care of the subject at hand, the absorptive reading of text. He doesn't denigrate the role of any type of reading...he explicitly states that scanning, skimming, skipping More...

So often I start to despair when I realize how many books there are and how few I will ever be able to read. Slow Reading offers me another response: "to simply and happily acknowledge that life is indeed short, and that our smaller selection of books represents a unique expression of our character. This second choice removes the needless pressure from reading, and restores it as a great pleasure." (Under the pressure of an ever lengthening reading list, I had forgotten that reading should be fu More...

I bought this book hoping it would give me some insight into the fact some of my students make a goal to read faster, but every semester I have students who want to learn to read slower. There IS something about slow, reflective reading that is so rewarding. The author is a library science student, not a reading teacher, not a practicing librarian...not a psychologist...

I did not get what I needed from the book...he touched on the concept of 'flow' in reading, and in the deep enjoyment of 'wallo More...

A Skimmable Note on Slow Reading

It is a pity that for a book that celebrates books that deserve, no demand the investment of time and all our mental and emotional faculties, it is itself barely so.

Despite its bite-sized length and lack of depth, it is still important. I would recommend potential readers to Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business if you want a deeper understanding of the issues that Miedema touches on in this book.

By the way, the book is not so mu More...

Publisher's blurb: http://bit.ly/vQPt4Z

"The traditional technologies of print and the book have persisted as part of our information ecology because of the need for slow reading and deep comprehension. The theme of locality in the Slow Movement provides insight into the importance of physical location in our relationship with information. Most of all, Slow Reading represents a rediscovery of the pleasure of reading for its own sake."

This was a surprisingly tremendous book. Miedema is a fine writer and I would also like to recommend the press: Litwin Books. The book is beautifully produced and a pleasure to read. So the form contributes to the argument.

Miedema offers a short but potent application of the slow movement to reading. It offers a reflections on and offline reading and possible strategies for intervention.

A lovely book! I wrote a review of it for Libreas, but did not include one of my favorite quotes in that forum, so I'll include it here:

"Children can use fiction as a testing ground for their future selves. Is there any reason to stop this process when we reach adulthood? It is sad and a bit creepy to watch those adults who cease to imagine. If is as if their inner landscape is withering." (p. 57)

A pleasurable introduction to the idea of slow reading. Although written in the format of a term paper, this book does an excellent job of explaining the various facets of slow reading. It describes why slow reading is important in the digital era.

Written, I suspect, as a Master's thesis, this book is still a persuasive argument for the benefits of slow, deep, meaningful reading. Miedema offers an antidote to a growing cultural condition described by Nicholas Carr in "The Shallows."

Great study on ideas about reading slower, digesting books to their fullest and taking time to really read.

Interesting. I am a slow reader and I thought it would provide some insight to my slow reading. It did and the I thank the author.