What I Learned from Failing to Read 100 Books in a Year

If you've been following along, you already know that I didn't reach my goal of reading 100 books in 2019. I knew from the beginning that it was unlikely that I would be able to finish that many books.

Unlike most New Year Resolutions, I feel zero guilt about not accomplishing this one. Pushing myself to prioritize reading has been a great thing in my life over the past year.

Here are some of the things that I learned.

1. I still spend too much time on social media. According to the breakdown of time on my phone, I spend significantly more time on social media than on reading. I focus better on physical books rather than ebooks (specifically ebooks on my phone) because social media is a huge distraction. I love that I can instantly read books from the library on my phone, but I read for shorter time periods when it's easy to switch to instagram with just a few clicks. I'm going to have to save ebooks for when I'm traveling or for when I get stuck somewhere without a physical book.

2. That being said, I love the bookstagram community on instagram. I am not the best at taking photos of books. That's something I'm working on improving. But still, I love getting to talk about books with other people. At least half of the books on my to-read list came from books I saw on instagram. I've also loved seeing my friends reading books this year. I grew up trading books with friends, but that's much harder to do when you don't like near each other. Keeping up with what we're reading through instagram makes it feel like we're not quite as far away.

3. Turns out, I enjoy being part of a book club. I would never have thought to go to one on my own. Luckily, a friend invited me. For a pastime that seems fundamentally individual, reading is so much more fun when it becomes a social activity. Going to a book club has also helped me branch out from my usual preferences in books. This experience has been so much fun.

4. I prefer borrowing books from the library over buying books. Don't get me wrong, I love going to bookstores and I love my giant bookshelves. But, unless I am certain I'm going to like a book, I'd rather read it from the library first and then buy it if I absolutely need to own it. It does help that I have access to an amazing library system in Nashville. I can request pretty much any books that I want, and then return it when I'm done.

5. My nonfiction reading is all over the place. My favorite nonfiction books from the year were I Think You're Wrong (But I'm Listening), The Conscious Closet, When Women Ruled the World, Floret Farm's Cut Flower Garden, and The 5 Love Languages. Apparently, I'm into politics, clothes, Egyptian history, flower gardens, and relationships. I don't even want to try to figure out what that says about me.

6. I still read a large amount of children's books and YA books. I don't particularly mind this, but I would like the percentage of children's books that I read to be lower in relation to the other books that I read. Since I read 73 books this year, I could make that percentage lower by reading the same number of children's books and YA books, but increasing the total overall number of books that I read. Or maybe I'll just read fewer books for kids. We'll see.

7. I need to stop reading books that I don't find interesting. I rarely finish books that I think are boring, but I do spend too long trying to get interested in books that I'm only going to abandon. Especially since most of my books come from the library, it isn't a big deal to stop reading them if I realize I don't like them. Last year, I would get over halfway through a book only to stop. Which meant that I put extra time into reading books that didn't ever count towards my 100 book goal. This year, if I'm not interested in a book by a quarter of the ay through, I'm going to put the book down and find a better one.

This year my goal is (surprise) to read 100 books. I do think that I'll get a little closer to 100 books than I did last year. Even if I don't, then I still think that the experience will be just as valuable as it was before.

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Follow along on Instagram or Goodreads to see how my goal progresses this year and to share what you're reading with me.