I Read 101 Books In 2022 And I Couldn't Tell You About Them

I know that the number of books people can read in a year has been a controversial topic online lately. The conversation usually starts by asking how many books a person can read in a year, and if the number of astronomical in the eyes of certain people, there's an uproar that these numbers are fake. I'll be honest and admit that I am always in awe of people who can read over 100 books in a year especially when they read a lot of audiobooks. I am not a good audiobook listener--it becomes background noise for me--so I am always stick to a number that I know I can read in a year: 100.

Now, I have been participating in the Goodreads Reading Challenge since 2011. I have won 9 of the 11 years I have participated and at this point, I can't get myself not to participate. This is how I track what books I read in a year. I personally can't keep up with any other tracker for my reading.

2022 was no different! I challenged myself to read 100 books and I thought that everything was set and good. I was extremely wrong. 2022 ended up being a big year for me personally in a way that it hadn't been in a long time. In 2022 I focused a lot more on my mental and physical health, the health of my relationships, and trying to really figure out what I wanted for my life this year. As I focused more on myself, I didn't focus on my reading. And instead of lowering my numerical goal, and giving myself less stress, I forced myself to read 100 books in the year.

  

It was absolutely awful. After a certain amount of time I was simply reading books to reach my goal. I didn't really care as much about what I was reading or why I picked up the book. Of the 100 books I read, I could probably only tell you about 20 to 25 of them and that's me being generous. I can barely remember anything about The Brightest Star in Paris by Diana Biller, my first book of the year. Wild Rain by Beverly Jenkins was a romance I was so eager to read but I don't remember much outside of the names of the main characters. I remember loving The Shadow of the Gods by John Gwynne but I can't tell you why.

As I was coming up with my reading goal for this year, I realized that I had done myself and the books I read last year a huge disservice. I shouldn't have forced myself to read books I wasn't really interested in, and I should have put more thought into the books I had been waiting to read. So, this year, I did something I haven't done since 2018: I set my reading goal to under 100 books at an even 52. Essentially, one book a week.

1) Be More Intentional About The Books I Read

As I have mentioned, last year I focused far more on the number of books I read and didn’t pay as much attention to what I was reading. While I did enjoy a good number of the books I read, more of the books I read were random. This year I want to actually put thought behind what books I read and why. I would love to go to my library and simply browse the shelves. Pick up a random book that looks good and decide to read it based on the cover alone or the synopsis or both. I am hoping that by reading less books this year, I will be able to pinpoint the “why” behind the reading choices.

2) Slow Down

I mean, reading one book a week for me is easy. I am sure that it might not be for others, and that’s perfectly okay, but reading is very important to me. Reading is one of my ways of decompressing and this is how I like to spend my free time. There is nothing better to me than going out to eat by myself, and reading on my kindle for the duration of my meal.

I love the task of reading because it forces me to slow down. It forces me to stop working excessively or stress too much and just read. There's no better feeling to me than getting lost in the books I’m reading.

3) The Number Doesn't Define Me

I have always struggled to not let numbers define me and my worth. Sometimes it's my weight. A lot of times it's my grades and my grade point average (GPA) and other times it’s the number of books I can read in a year. As I’ve mentioned before, I would love to be one of these people who reads over one hundred books a year, but I have come to recognize that this holds me back.

4) Actually Remember What I Read

I want to start a reading journal where I can hand write my thoughts about what I read. I use GoodReads to track everything I read, but I do not write a review for all of it. I also want to read some self help books–yes, don’t judge me–so I want to have a place to write down notes. I am hoping this helps me with my terrible memory and write better reviews.

5) Read Widely

At the time of writing this post, I have already finished two memoirs this year and it’s only February. Not only that but both of these memoirs (I’m Glad My Mother Died by Jeanette McCurdy and Finding Me by Viola Davis) have been absolutely amazing. I tend to not read memoirs, especially those of celebrities, but both of these books intrigued me enough that I gave them a chance. And I am so glad that I did because they’ve already become 2023 favorites.

Which is why I want to read widely this year. I want to challenge myself to read an adult fantasy series by an author I have always been interested in (N.K. Jemisin), I want to try different romances and even a thriller, and I want to read a horror that will absolutely take me out of my comfort zone.

As I type this post up, it is February 20, and I have already read 14 books out of my 52 goal. And I have enjoyed every single one of them. No, all of them haven't been favorites of the year or anything, but I can remember enough about each story that I can tell anyone who asks me about them. Some how, without even knowing it, I made a place that actually worked for me. 

What about you all? Do you have yearly reading goals? If so, what kinds of goals do you set? If not, why not?