I have always admired people I would see on Goodreads or Instagram that were able to read 100 or more books in a year. I wondered how they did it. I am an avid reader and year after year, I was nowhere near the 100-book-mark. What was their secret? How did they find the time? Are they all speed readers?
As a society we tend to use reading, including what and how frequently, as a shorthand to imply someone is educated, cultured, has access to ‘free time’. So, the fact that Americans read about 12 books a year means anything above that amount (less alone triple digits) would be considered an accomplishment.
In 2024 I finally did it. I read over 100 books.
But now that I have hit this milestone it doesn’t feel as rewarding as I thought it would—I don’t feel the admiration for myself that I had previously lavished on others. Honestly, reading 100 books over the past 12 months doesn’t feel as great as we’re led to believe.
Here’s why.
How It All Started
I usually set an annual goal to read 52 books, one for each week of the year. That seems to fit my reading speed and habits.
In 2024, when I was eight books ahead of my usual goal, I became so focused on ‘could I hit 100 books this year?’ that I stopped savouring the reading process. It became all about staying ‘on track’ and increasing my lead.
If a novel wasn’t for one of my virtual book discussions, I was not focussed on absorbing content in an in-depth way. This means I was speed reading without really taking information in, skimming headings and paragraphs, and listening to audiobooks at 1.75 speed. It constantly felt like a race to the bottom of the page.
It probably comes as no surprise given my business, but analyzing and critiquing what I am reading is a big source of joy for me. Focussing on consuming 100 books for the sake of approval instead of the actual content really stripped the sense of relaxation and enjoyment I get from picking up a book.
I think it’s important to note my use of the word ‘approval’ above. I never really questioned who I was trying to impress. Was my reading goal just for me? Or did I want others to recognize my habits? Because honestly, when my reading goal did come up in conversations, I was left feeling a little foolish at the amazement from others.
It’s difficult not to get caught up in the numbers, we’re conditioned to be graded and literally get dopamine hits from the amount of likes and comments we get online. While we often think of Instagram, TikTok, or X (formerly Twitter) for these engagement numbers, Goodreads can also be included as one of the platforms that have shaped our actions. Every January Goodreads will prompt you to set a reading goal, cheer on friends’ goals, and add books to your digital TBR list. Not only are you aiming to complete reading a specific number of books over the course of the year, there is the added pressure of seeing your TBR list grow and grow without feeling like you’re making progress.
Ironically, I did a social media post that showed even though I had read 102 books in 2024, my TBR list had grown longer. While it is nice to be able to track authors and titles I am interested in, instead of having them live in my brain, it is enough to make anyone feel overwhelmed (and dare I say a tinge of feeling like you’re failing... To say nothing of the conversation that could be had here about consumerism).
Does Reading More Mean Greater Exposure to Amazing Books?
By the time December rolled around, and I had hit the 100-book mark, I started reflecting on everything I had read over the course of the year and I was not convinced that reading more books meant that I was reading great literature consistently.
It actually felt like I read a lot of things I read I felt apathetic (or worse) about.
Being curious, I dug through my Goodreads data to see if that was true. Here’s how 102 books broke down for me:
Out of all the books I read, I only rated eight of them as five stars. Overall, I give this high rating if a book has spectacular writing (and editing) and can surprise me and/or elicit emotional reaction and/or brings something new to the table (for example, this might be a unique character or new-to-me historical content).
I did go back and look at my five-star ratings for 2023 and 2022 and it seems usual for me to give less than 10 books a year this rating. I have high standards! But for those previous years I read 75 books in 2023 and 47 in 2022. Even though I read more books last year, I didn’t have more five-star reads.
Of the books I read in 2024, I rated 10 as one-stars and 29 of them were two-stars. That means about 40% of what I read I felt meh or downright bad about. These ratings also mean I wasn’t recommending them to others.
While I have been getting better at not finishing books when they aren’t hitting the mark for me, once I’ve passed the first 50 pages, I usually resign myself to finishing a book… Especially as I was trying to read 100 books. I had this perspective that I had already dedicated precious reading time to a book, so it would be a ‘waste’ to not keep going.
I know it isn’t possible to avoid sub-par reads, but this idea that reading time is valuable to me is something I want to bring back into focus. If it’s so precious, I want to be creating an experience I enjoy.
How 2025 Will Be Different
What, if anything, am I changing this year? For starters, I am not placing so many holds at the library. I LOVE my library for so many reasons, but having too many books come in at once meant I was constantly rearranging what I was reading next and powering through books in a thoughtless way. Of the 102 books I read last year, 62 of them were from the library!
This change will also be helpful in finding my way back towards my natural tendency of being a mood reader. Giving myself permission to pick up or put down books when I am really feeling them (or not), I think will bring back some of the enjoyment that has disappeared for me.
But, yes, I have still declared my usual reading goal of 52 books on Goodreads. I can’t help the January desire to goal set, but writing this blog has made me wonder if keeping track of how much I read is helpful. Do you set a reading goal each year? And do you feel it spurs you to make time to read or just stresses you out? If you’re not using Goodreads, how do you keep track of the titles you’ve read and the ones you want to?
No matter your reading goals for this year, I am all for encouraging everyone to read in a way that feels good to you—paperbacks, audiobooks, graphic novels, using a numbers goal or not, whatever! While I am glad to have finally hit the 100-book goal, it is clear that some of the magic of reading had fallen away when I focussed on how much I was reading, not on what.
Here's to more five-star reads in 2025!