starting a new long book

2026 · 07

Started another big one. Not the doorstop from before, I got through that over the winter in the end, mixed feelings and all, but something nearly as thick. J. mentioned it last time we met. I turned it over in my hands in the shop for a good while before I let myself pay for it.

The difference this time is I'm not making a thing of it. Last time I opened a long novel I treated it like a race, told everyone, and then stalled about a third in and felt guilty for the best part of a year. It sat on the shelf giving me a look every time I went past.

So this one gets a quieter arrangement. A few pages a night, no target, no counting pages. If it runs to spring, it runs to spring. M. thinks my new seriousness about reading is a bit much and, fair enough, it probably is.

The first chapters are slow and there are a lot of names to hold onto. I've flipped back twice already to check who someone was. But the not-rushing is the good bit.