One of my favorite childhood memories involves reading alongside my best friend Barb in the afternoons after middle school let out. We’d lie side by side on her twin bed, mostly silent, reading one book after another. We were young and impressionable, not fully formed yet, and reading together created a deep emotional bond that lasted into adulthood and transcended our divergent paths in life.
Reading was sacrosanct in my family — my parents had thousands of books in our home library and we were given carte blanche at our town’s yearly book sale. As a result of their influence, I developed a love of reading early.
Recently I’ve discovered a new way to embrace my love of books: reading retreats, which are a spin on the classic wellness retreat. The retreats typically offer guests a chance to get away to a quiet spot and commune with fellow readers while also engaging in traditional wellness activities like yoga or spa treatments.
The rise of the reading retreat makes sense: Many people say they’d like to read more, according to a 2025 NPR/Ipsos poll, but they simply can’t find the time. Another 2025 survey found that 40 percent of Americans didn’t read any books over the past year while another 40 percent read less than one book a month (crime and mystery stories were the most popular choices). A third read physical books, 14 percent digital books, and 12 percent audiobooks. (There’s controversy as to whether audiobooks count as reading, but that’s a discussion for another article.)
Bibliotherapy (reading and discussing literature) has been shown to help reduce anxiety and depression and improve sleep. Reading books about other cultures, times in history, and diverse topics can enhance empathy and cross-cultural understanding. I, personally, have experienced profound moments of enlightenment as a result of reading. Most prominently, after reading Khaled Hosseini’s novel A Thousand Splendid Suns, the story of two Afghan women who share an abhorrently abusive husband and are trapped under the Taliban’s Sharia law, I took to heart the lesson of gratitude. Even today, almost 20 years after first reading this novel, it has stayed with me. It reminds me, as a privileged American woman, that I’m lucky simply by where and to whom I was born, and to appreciate what I have rather than yearn for what I don’t. Things could be so much worse, and they are for many people around the world.
What Does One Do on a Reading Retreat?
The retreat I attended, the All Booked retreat, took place in New York state’s Catskill Mountains and was just a couple of hours’ drive from my home in Connecticut. The leader, journalist Suzanne Rozdeba, loosely schedules the weekend around meals, book discussions, and wellness activities. “I try to offer a perfect blend of reading time, adventure, and relaxation,” she says.
At the March 2026 retreat, we read Strangers by socialite Belle Burden, whose husband suddenly divorced her after two decades of marriage and gave up custody of their children. The book provoked a range of reactions from the assembled group, most of them negative, about the author’s financial naivete. I also participated in a November 2025 All Booked retreat, where the book of choice was Arundhati Roy’s memoir Mother Mary Come to Me about growing up in India with a complex mother. As might be expected, the book led to very personal discussions about the sometimes-fraught nature of mother-daughter relationships.
When choosing titles, Rozdeba scours book lists, Instagram, and Goodreads to find new and trending books written by women. “Once I’ve narrowed down a selection of books, I’ll read the first few chapters to see if the writing is powerful, and if I feel it would make for meaningful retreat discussions. I also reach out to each author to see if they’ll join us for an author discussion, and many have been incredibly receptive,” she says. “We had Pulitzer Prize winner Quiara Alegría Hudes join us for her novel The White Hot, Claire Lynch to discuss her novel A Family Matter, and Olivia Muenter for her novel Little One.”
Rozdeba serves as host and book-retreat moderator, and she takes both jobs seriously. An avid reader herself (she goes through two to three books per week and describes herself as a “lifelong lover of words and stories”), she and her family moved from New York City to the Catskill Mountains during the COVID pandemic and decided to stay. She rents out luxury homes that can house up to eight women and curates healthy, chef-prepared meals linked to the books being read.
The homes have plenty of private, cozy nooks that allow for catching up on reading (including the selected book if participants haven’t been able to read it in full prior to the weekend).
The copious amounts of guilt-free reading time are a major attraction for most participants. As Tomika Bryant, a content creator from Philadelphia known as @TomikaTalks, put it, “When do we ever get to just disappear into a good book without feeling like we should be doing something else?”
The first evening is devoted to getting to know one another and decompressing. Guests are asked to bring a favorite book to exchange with other guests in a blind book swap. The night closes with a mediation led by a wellness coach. The next day, retreaters can spend time reading, talking with others, and doing joint activities like making candles or forest bathing (a meditative form of hiking in the woods).
For the book discussion on Saturday night, Rozdeba brings a list of questions and a heavily tabbed copy of the book to guide the interchange. On Sunday morning, the participants share a chatty breakfast of croissants, scones, and coffee before heading home with a high-end swag bag containing handmade candles and soap and skin care products.
Reading Retreats Are Popping Up All Over
The All Booked Retreat has gained enough traction that Rozdeba is now hosting almost monthly sessions, which are sold out through Fall 2026. Several other reading retreats have sprung up across the U.S. in the past few years as well and are booking up fast: There’s the Forest & Fawn club for women and femmes “who never stopped believing in magic,” which focuses on fantasy books and has retreats planned on both coasts. In New England, Book a Break hosts retreats in destinations like Cape Cod, Nantucket, and Vermont. Lost Woods, where readers glamp or stay in rustic cabins, operates in Northern Michigan, while M. Judson Booksellers’ Reading Retreats currently has two dates scheduled for 2026 in Highlands and Pawley’s Island, North Carolina. On the West Coast, The Wild Sisters Book Co. Retreat in California recently staged a getaway in Ferndale, while Well-Read Retreats plans events in Hood River, Oregon. And in the U.K., Ladies Who Lit, a book and travel club, is scheduled for destinations as far flung as Bali, Indonesia; Mallorca, Spain; and Svalbard, Norway.
Most of the retreats are populated by women (as are most book clubs), although men may also join some. Page Break, a New York- and queer-centric retreat and one of the few that attracts both men and women, is hosted by a man. This retreat also stands out because participants are asked to take turns reading a chosen book aloud to one another over the course of a weekend in an effort to foster both connection and comprehension.
What’s the Appeal?
According to Rozdeba, reading retreats are trending today because women in particular are “craving in-person, peaceful get-togethers with like-minded women.” She has hosted mother-daughter duos, sisters, and groups of friends, as well as guests who come solo. The women range widely in age from their late 20s to 70s. Most live in the New York City Tri-State area, but she finds her geographic pull is expanding, with guests coming from as far away as Virginia and Maryland.
Whatever the mix, the shared love of books creates an undeniable synergy and a “I found my people” vibe. The retreat is also the ultimate escape: “It delivered exactly what I didn’t know I needed,” says Bryant. “There’s something so healing about curling up with a book, a warm drink, and zero distractions.”
Nancy Monson is a freelance travel, lifestyle, and wellness writer with publications ranging from AARP The Magazine to Fodors.com, NextAvenue.org, and USA Today. She is a member of the International Food, Wine and Travel Writers Association. She is also a mixed-media artist and author of Craft to Heal: Soothing Your Soul with Sewing, Painting, and Other Pastimes.
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