I’m a slow reader.
Not distracted or uninterested. Just slow. I’ve always been that way. So when I decided this was the year I was going to read more, I did what any rational person would do, I picked up a 1,200+ page book.
Not just The Stand, but the complete and uncut version.
Of course.
And I’m reading it physically. All of it. A literal brick of a book. I still can’t quite get on board with digital books. If I’m going to commit to something this big, I want to feel the weight of it in my hands.
Part of the reason I’m trying to read more this year is because I’ve realized how much of my free time is spent staring at screens. Games. Streaming shows. Endless scrolling. I love all of it, but after a while it starts to feel… passive. Like my brain is just absorbing instead of working.
Reading feels different. Slower and more intentional. Like I play a more active role in the experience.
I started reading Stephen King in middle school. I still remember library days when half the class would make a beeline for his section. Those thick paperbacks felt important but also slightly forbidden. Like you were getting away with something just by checking one out.
The Stand has been on my radar for years. It’s one of those books that feels bigger than just a story. It has a reputation. A weight to it. The kind of novel you “get to” someday.
I’m still early in it, early in a very relative sense, but it’s already just as awesome as I hoped it would be. The characters feel lived-in. The slow build works for me. It doesn’t rush.
Which is probably good, because I won’t be rushing either.
It might take me a while to finish it.
But that’s kind of the point.
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