At the year’s end, many people share their reading goals and top reads online. These posts, without fail, raise the debate about how many books per year are too many?
From accusing readers of lying to undermining their reading comprehension, many people have extreme opinions about others’ reading habits. This discourse is interesting to me for a few reasons.
- Why Are We So Invested in Others’ Reading Habits?
It’s weird to be so invested in someone else’s reading habits. Why are we so concerned with the number of books someone has chosen to read throughout the year? Having any judgment to place on how many books per year one is able to read comes off as busy-body behavior.
If the concern for the number on another reader’s Goodreads account extends past curiosity, it’s out of line, in my opinion. Reading is such a personal activity. It feels beside the point to compare your reading habits to others or judge others for the amount they read.
They Could be Doing Worse
In a world where we normalize hobbies like excessive screen time and alcohol consumption, reading in excess is probably one of the best hobbies you could choose.
I was surprised personally by the amount of reading I could get done when I reduced the time spent on my phone. Many of us don’t realize how much free time we have and how much we let slip away by doom scrolling on our phones or binging TV.
At the end of the day, what people choose to do in their free time is their business.
The Reading Police
Another strange phenomenon I’ve observed within the online reading community is people doubting that people are actually reading the amount they say they are or that they’re not retaining information from what they’ve read. These excessive reading goal naysayers even argue that audiobooks don’t count (which is ableist for many reasons).
Placing expectations on a leisure activity is a strange concept. I can’t remember ever feeling pressure to recall details of a movie or show I’ve watched recently. If I’m reading a fiction book in my leisure time, the goal isn’t to retain every detail or pass a test at the end. The goal is to enjoy the story and escape from the monotony of my everyday life. The exception to this rule is, of course, nonfiction.
If I’m reading a nonfiction book about a topic I’m curious about, yes, I’m going to hold myself to a higher standard regarding retention and possibly even take notes. That being said, if I read a whole book and learn one thing, it’s worth it because if I took the time to finish the book, it meant I enjoyed it, and learning something new was just a bonus.
My Reading Habits
As someone who has read 100+ books last year, that number is not crazy to me. I wasn’t able to read this amount because I was “skimming,” “skipping parts,” or rushing through books. I was able to do it because I was reading books I thoroughly enjoyed and was being picky with what I let take up my time. AKA replacing screen time with reading.
Will I read 100 or more books every year? Probably not. There will be times when I’m working on other projects and don’t come anywhere near that number. But I can tell you that I don’t regret a single book I’ve read in the past year, and I’m glad I challenged myself to prioritize reading again.
If you’re interested in reading about how I improved my reading habits, check out my post here:
From Zero Books Per Year to 100: Rekindling My Love for Reading
Whether you read one book per year or 200 or read physical copies or audiobooks, your reading habits are valid, and as long as you enjoy the time you spend reading, that’s all that matters.
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