Stop Just Reading Stories.
Start Uncovering Meaning.
Ready to get more from the books you love?
I created this FREE guide
to get you started!
Read literature with me!
Rediscover the joy of slow reading and turn observations into interpretations..
How is meaning created?
Most of us stop at the story: we know what happened, form opinions about the characters, and decide whether we liked the book.
But what about those little details that keep catching your attention?
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Why does that image keep appearing?
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Why is this character described that way?
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Why does the same idea keep coming back?
That’s where meanings start to emerge: in the details, repetitions, contrasts and patterns beneath the story.
And you don’t need a literature degree to find them.
You just need to get curious about what you notice.
That’s what I do here. I read slowly, look closely, and explore how the choices a writer makes shape the meanings we take from a story.
My main lens is feminist: I’m particularly interested in gender, power, agency, and the assumptions about women and men that stories can reproduce—or challenge.
Want to see how this kind of reading works in practice? For the next few weeks, I’ll be reading Love in the Time of Cholera and sharing my thoughts with you in my blog!
Follow along and let's read together!
Hello!
My name is Aristi. Nice to meet you! :)
What do you need to know about me...
I am Greek. I am 50 years old. I love making (and eating) jam and bread, and every morning I look at Mount Olympus from my window while I drink my coffee.
My husband is Scottish, my kids are bilingual, and we live in a small town in northern Greece in a house with a garden. I love wandering around it — although I have very little interest in doing any of the hard work required to keep it neat and alive 😁
And I really, really love literature!
I can spend days on a few pages, underlining, drawing arrows, cross-referencing and writing in every available bit of margin. I really converse with my books (sometimes out-loud too).
I have been trained in literary theory, which at the time was unbelievably overwhelming. Over the years, though, all that theory has gradually distilled into a set of reading lenses that I now apply almost subconsciously to every text I read.
Coming back to literature
It took me a while to get back to reading after a ten-year break to raise my family. Mostly because I was so used to the pressure of reading for breadth and quantity that I thought I would have to return to the same relentless rhythm.
Social media didn’t help. There always seemed to be someone suggesting “10 books to read this fall” or discussing a different author in every post.
I’m a mom. I like to make jam and bread. I go to the gym. I do homework with my kids. I have no time — or headspace — to read ten books this fall.
I do, however, have time and headspace to read one.
And that’s what I decided to do!
For the next few weeks, I’ll be reading Love in the Time of Cholera and sharing my thoughts with you in my blog.
Does any of this resonate with you?
If it does, follow my journey in my blog and feel free to join the conversation in the comments!
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