Last year, I read 88 books. With the exception of a couple of years in college when I had to read two or three books a week for classes, I think it’s the most books I have ever read in a year. Certainly, it is the highest number of books I have read by choice. Initially, I had planned to read 100. I’m a planner and it helps me to have goals. (This year’s reading goals) But between the death of Deadspin and trying to sell a novel and, you know, regular depressive episodes, it just didn’t happen. Life got in the way.
But as I started to make my goal for this year, I realized that maybe last year I read too many books. Was 100 too high of a goal? I wondered. Had it overwhelmed me? Was it a stupid idea to begin with? 100 books is a little more than 2 books a week. In theory, I got pretty close to that. I read 6 unpublished manuscripts by friends and I read my own fucking novel at least 20 times.
Everyone reads at different speeds and everyone reads different length books and everyone needs to make their own goals and yet I HAVE DECIDED THE PERFECT NUMBER OF BOOKS TO READ IN A YEAR IS 50.
50 books is the perfect number of books to read in a year! Here is why:
Reading 50 books is challenging for anyone except the most prolific readers, but it is by no means an impossible number. 50 books is slightly less than one book a week. If you start strong, you can spend the last few months of the year slacking or reading really giant books like JACOB’S LADDER.
50 books is a lot of books. 50 books will make you talk about books. When you are reading a book a week, you need an outlet for what you are learning/ obsessing over/ diving into. You cannot bore the same person with every single book of the 50 you’re reading in the year. You have to talk to others, find a community of readers, beg people to read books with you. 50 books is enough to make being “a reader” part of your personality which while dumb is a really enjoyable way to be.
50 books is not so many books that you forget reading half the books you read. If you completely forget about a book and you read 100 books in a year, well, that’s just your memory. But if you forget a book you read completely and you only read 50 books, you didn’t like the book. This is a helpful way to judge your year!
Join me! Let’s read 50 books this year. You can do it!