How I read 100 books in a year

2021 was just around the corner and I was sitting staring at my phone screen with the Goodreads reading challenge page open. How many books could I read this year?

Now for those who don’t know, the Goodreads reading challenge is a flexible challenge in which you set yourself a target for how many books you are going to read that year. There are no prizes as such, just the warm fuzzy glow of accomplishment. Loads of people use this challenge as a springboard to get them back into reading or form great habits like reading more regularly.

I read that 62 books was the average goal set in 2020, which seemed like loads - because it is! I was confused about how all these people found so much time to sit around reading during their everyday lives. Surely they couldn’t be holding down jobs 40 hours a week?

Then I read the completion rate for the challenge in previous years: 16%

As few as 16% of people who pledge to read a certain number of books actually do it. That could only mean one thing; their goals were too high.

Whilst part of me wanted to be above average, I’m a realist (most of the time), so I would rather aim lower and be able to complete it than shoot for the stars just to fall on my face. I’m all about being ambitious, but that doesn’t mean I should make it unachievable. So, I thought to myself, I’ll do 50.

It’s probably not slipped your attention that the title says ‘100 books’ and I set my challenge to 50.

Time for another COVID lockdown…

So, I started my challenge, reading avidly in place of watching tv in the evenings when all of a sudden I wasn’t teaching anymore, but at home. All day, every day.

By the end of March I had already read 34 books, meaning I was 20 books ahead of schedule and still had 9 months left of the year. An opportunity had arisen for me to come out *above average* and oh boy was I going to take it!

Now you can probably guess what happened next…

I changed my reading goal to 100.

Now my days were filled with reading, along with looking after my daughter who was only 1 year old at the time. She napped for large parts of the day so we were all good to go on the book front.

You see, I’ve never been particularly passionate about anything. I get a new hobby, I love it… for a little while. And when it gets a little bit dull I throw it all away! This is sort of what happened with the reading challenge.

I went from 20 books ahead of schedule to reading:

June: 3 books

July: 5 books

August: 7 books

September: 2 books

Having fallen so far behind the target, the pressure was on to get finished in time.

The last month was a slog and I ended up reading 15 books in December, finally reaching 100 books on the last day of the year.

That’s how I managed to read them all in a year - with a lot of effort and a lot of free time.

As I mentioned, I would never do it again and here are my big 5 reasons why:

1. No Freedom to Choose Books

I love finding a great book, or better, getting an amazing recommendation from friends, but during this challenge, I felt I had to choose shorter or easier books just to get them finished quickly. The challenge definitely made me pick books I wouldn’t normally have chosen - which isn't the worst thing - but, at times, it did stop me from picking ones I really wanted to read.

2. It Felt like Homework

This challenge did feel like homework at times, especially in the months when I read very few books. I should have been able to take a break from reading without feeling guilty about it. Unfortunately, this was not the case. I felt guilty for doing other relaxing things like watching tv or not reading as much when I was away on holiday. This leads us to my next point.

3. Took Away From Other Hobbies

I missed out on good tv, new films and lots of other hobbies because I became so focused on reading in my free time. I was a keen runner and I found if I didn’t get up and go early, I made the excuse that I needed to stay in and read - which sounds so ridiculous in hindsight!

4. Impacted Relationships

I also didn’t spend as much time with family as I could have if I hadn’t been reading. There were so many nights when I would hardly see my husband because I’d be in the other room reading whilst he watched tv alone. If he had been an avid reader this wouldn’t have been so much of an issue, but it was for us!

5. Time

And arguably most importantly, I will never have the free time again to undertake such a task - until I retire in ~40 years. The only reason I had this amount of free time at home was because of COVID, and I can safely say I wouldn’t ever want that again.

Ultimately, the challenge was great… for a while. I can’t see myself ever reading 100 books in a year again, it’s just not for me.

I read for fun, so why make it a chore?

And in case you're curious how my 2022 Goodreads reading challenge is going… I set a goal of 30 books and I’ve currently read 21 with just over a month to go. No change of a special little ‘completed’ banner this year and you know what? I’m 110% ok with it.

My advice: The Goodreads challenge can be great - get involved in 2023! But choose a smaller goal, keep it fun and don't worry about not completing it!

Thanks for reading!