For the past few years I have signed up for the Reading Challenge through Goodreads.com. My success has been a mixed bag with meeting my goal the first year but falling short each consecutive year after. Each year I increased my goal with the expectation that I would take more time to read but I never quite changed my habits. I am scaling back this year and trying to get back to a goal only slightly out of my reach in the hopes it feels attainable enough to motivate me but not so out of reach I throw up my hands and just say “screw it”. I think 16 will be that number. It is higher than my 2014 number of 9 but last year was not typical with a lot of unexpected events happening.
Some people might wonder why anyone would have a reading goal and to those people I would say why not? Reading is fundamental as the PSAs say and I actually really enjoy both the process of reading and the journey of discovering new stories. A more selfish reason, however, is that reading gives me an excuse to buy more books and I am certainly a book hoarder. I don’t have stacks and stacks of books around the house but I am willing to bet that I have more than the average person. I can’t explain why I find the physical presence of books in my house comforting but I do. Although I have been reading more digital books lately I don’t get the same feeling from finishing a digital book as I do when I finish a paper book and then shelve it in my home. I wonder if anyone has ever studied this phenomenon.
Back to the challenge. 16 books is my goal and I want to read most of those from the books I already own. This will include books by Stephen King, Richard Dawkins, Neil Gaiman, and Robert Jordan. There are plenty more books I am looking forward to through my Kindle but I expect at least half of the books I read this year will be paper and will already be in my house. I am also a “member-on-hiatus of a local book club and I would like to get back to being involved in that group but that does mean reading some stuff outside of my current “to-read” list. The shared reading experience, however, is worth the effort.
Check back here for reviews as I finish books throughout the year.