Friday Mood Recs: Slow books to savor during the end-of-year rush

My annual reading cure for the most hectic time of year

The end of the year can feel extremely frantic when it comes to our reading lives. Many readers set numerical challenges for how many books they want to read in a year so November and December can start to feel like a race to the finish line. On top of that, best books of the year lists start putting new books on our radar and it can feel like the TBR mountain will never be conquered.

One of my tricks to combat the end of year overwhelm is to read a book that no one else is discussing. Another is to choose something that intentionally forces me to slow down. Usually I read this book in secret. I eventually end up reviewing whatever it is publicly, but I don’t say anything about it when I start it nor do I share updates as I slowly read my way through it. This has become a special ritual that’s important to me as someone who shares my reading life publicly, but it’s also another way to consciously slow down. When I’m not sharing my thoughts about a big book as I read, I tend to read it slightly differently. I interpret, analyze, and puzzle it together, but I avoid considering any real critical judgment about it until closer to the end. If I like it enough to keep reading, that’s all I care about.

While this element of privacy may be somewhat esoteric, I think the desire to slow down time in this season is quite common. And in that spirit, today I’m sharing six recommendations for books that are well worth slowing down for. They aren’t going to help you meet your numerical reading goal or catch up on the buzziest books of 2024, but they all provide read deep, leisurely reading during a season of bustle. Fair warning, if you are a reader who finds yourself constantly questioning whether something “needed” to be in a novel, this list is not for you.

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