John Miedema

More than one person has teased me that he or she is going to read Slow Reading sloooowly.

The book is about slow reading, but a central theme is that there are many styles of reading. With all the recent talk about newspapers ending their print runs, some might again think that print is dead. Personally, I think much of what is in newspapers should go digital. After all, the news is fundamentally about quick updates, and digital technology is good for quick reading. Not everything deserves a slow read. But digital technology has not replaced print, and books are still the superior technology for reading material of length or substance.

Slow Reading is a print book. Does it merit slow reading? I have just stated the criteria — slow reading is for material of length or substance. Now, my book is short in length, 92 pages counting the references, index and even some blank pages. (Still, a good deal at twelve USD.) The book could easily have been longer, but I find that people appreciate my concise writing style. No fluff. So what about substance? It has been said that for a book to receive general acceptance, only twenty percent of its content should contain new ideas. Pfft. I won’t assert an exact figure, but the book has a hearty percentage of original thought on reading diversity, information ecology, locality, the environment, bibliotherapy, and more. I call it a slow read. I hope you enjoy it.

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