Okay, it’s not like I didn’t read ANYTHING this year. According to my records, I finished 40 books so far in 2024.
The thing is that I have read only 8 books in the last 3.5 months, and 4/8 of these have been nonfiction books read specifically in preparation for podcast interviews. That’s great, but it’s also sort of like work and only somewhat counts. I don’t totally get it! Reading is generally one of my favorite forms of escapism and relaxation and I’ve heard so many titles described this year that sounded tantalizingly great. In fact, I have MULTIPLE physical books sitting around that look good just . . . sitting there.
I am looking at these year-end “best of 2024” lists with horror that I didn’t read anything “good” this year. Seriously, there are lists of notable books where I have not read a SINGLE volume (okay, 1/12 in this one. I did like Come and Get It a lot)! That said, I did enjoy some of my reading and have a couple of favorites. I will save my official list for closer to the end of the month, but there were some standouts in both the fiction + nonfiction categories for me.
Just trying to figure out why I am not turning to books lately. It’s obvious that stressors of Aug/Sep threw me off the track, but . . . why didn’t I get back on? Possibilities:
- I am more tired from marathon training so I end up falling asleep before I read much at night? Good theory except that I actually trained harder for a marathon in May, so . . .
- I am watching more TV. Maybe a little! I don’t find this problematic, either. Watching all 4 seasons of Emily in Paris plus The Perfect Couple probably did make a small dent in my reading time.
- I am working more. This might be true. Particularly writing. I don’t feel like it’s consuming every waking hour or anything. But I seem to be just . . . packing a lot in, work wise. The creative/business stuff fluctuates more, but clinical work has been busy too.
- #MOOD. October and November were weird. Not talking about politics here, though I suppose that was distracting for a bit. Just a sense of stress despite things being objectively . . . pretty great. I think some of this is just related to my writing project, looming deadlines, and all that. We also had some other behind-the-scenes things going on. I guess in retrospect, the latter half of the year just contained more than its share of challenges.
So what’s the answer? Is there one? Do I care? I mean, kind of! Not in a “I must read XYZ books to be a good person” sort of way; I don’t buy into that at all! More in a “this was something I got a lot of joy from and I miss it” kind of way. (And also in the “so many great books, such a finite lifespan” way, too.)
WILL I set a reading goal for 2025? I’m debating it! Something along the lines of “read 10 pages of NF and 10 pages of fiction a day, most days”, perhaps. This is such a low bar and I know I’ll read more if I end up liking the books, but it would be a way to keep the momentum going. Notably I have read much more nonfiction in the past few months because it’s just part of my morning ritual. Maybe I need to figure out an afternoon or evening ritual that would work centered around fiction.
I did have a goal to establish some family reading habits last year, and it didn’t work, probably because G really still does not read on her own (though she’s making great progress with some support recently!). I would still love to do this, perhaps with an audio option for G.
Anyone else having a non-banner reading year ? I feel like there are so many high-volume (100+ / yr) readers in blogland and many who don’t really read much at all – I represent the middle ground, I guess! In an ideal would I think ~52 books/year would be my sweet spot, 50/50 F/NF.
19 Comments
I think working on writing a book is likely contributing to things. Plus your evenings are far far busier now with multiple kids in evening activities which means any sort of wind down ritual you had is likely compressed? I have read 91 books so far so won’t hit 100 which is fine. I don’t set an aggressive goal for # of books read because I don’t want to gamify my reading and read shorter books so I can hit an arbitrary goal. My kids go to bed quite early so I can spend some time with my husband and then go to bed and read for 60-90 minutes. I also read a lot while traveling for work as my VPN doesn’t work on Delta’s free (but crappy) WiFi and I read a lot in the hotel since I rarely have evening commitments.
But overall I would say you could try abandoning books more quickly. If it’s not grabbing you, move on. There are too many good books out there to slog through something that isn’t holding your attention! But all that said, cut yourself some slack! You had demanding jobs, busy kids, you’ve trained for 2 marathons and have 2 podcasts!! You just leaned into other things this fall for comfort!
I have had a terrible reading year. But like you I have been churning out a bunch of content. I do think that is having an effect. I prefer leisure activities that are a bit mediative. I have been gravitating towards puzzles and cards.
I have also just struggled to find books I want to read. I think there is a lot of focus in the media on new books understandably but I have a very particular type of book I like to read and finding backlist titles is just more challenging.
I am a high volume (100+) reader but my reading life has been lacklustre the second half of 2024. I think the state of the world, things were shoved up in publication timetables so there is less new and shiny, and just fatigue. Many nights I’m just falling asleep at 915 instead of staying up a bit later to read. I’ve also dnf tons of stuff, I find my patience with poor writing is much lower.
I’ve read a lot this year (100+) but it’s my main hobby, my kid is not a joiner, and reading together on the couch or at a coffeeshop is how my husband and I hang out. I do think DNFing quickly and often also helps (I’ve literally DNFed on the first page). If it helps, I’m a librarian and I strongly believe in the DNF. There are so many books you’ll enjoy more!
I’ve also had a very lackluster reading year. I think it’s a combination of falling asleep in the evening/at night before I can even open a book and concentration/mood related issues. I’m hoping to start fresh in the new year. Can I ask what planner/journal reading log you’re using in that pic?
It’s a cloth and paper reading tracker insert!
I have read 27 books so far this year, which is a lot for me. The only reason it’s that much is I read on the stationary bike (which I hate). *Fortunately* I can now run twice per week which means less bike time, ergo less reading time.
Mood-wise, I have found myself wondering why only bad things ever happen. Oh maybe one tiny little good thing will happen, but mostly everything is ass. And yes, I know I’m supposed to feel grateful for what I have blah blah blah. That only makes it worse.
This year hasn’t been great for my reading either. I don’t track my heading but I’ve probably only read about 15 books (Im not as big a reader as you though, a good year might be 30). Things have also been so busy and intense for me too.
I think the idea of having a ritual of when you read fiction is a great idea. Perhaps even put some slots in your planner- knowing of course you can read other times too. Once the habit is back I’m sure you won’t need the planning anymore.
Funny enough I realized I was having a bit of a reading lull since September. I’ve read 42 books this year but I generally read 4-5 books a month untill september… when I read 2. And 2 in October. And apparently it’s december. I sort of had a goal to read 50 books, but also I don’t care that much about the number.
For me I’ve stopped listening to as many audiobooks. I also think having more hobbies is cutting into my reading time. I read every night before bed but haven’t been reading for an hour in the evening. I also stopped waking up at night and reading when I can’t sleep, which is probably a good thing, but not great for my reading time.
I’m thinking about whether to even make a reading goal for next year or to just scour all the best ofs and make a fun and curated TBR list instead.
The “best of” lists are arbitrary and are more determined by marketing than anything else, so don’t judge yourself if you haven’t read things from the lists. Honestly, 75% of what I read is rom-coms and will never be found on those lists, but are just as intelligent and often touch on heavy topics just as much as “good” books. I got a lot better at abandoning books this year – reading is supposed to be enjoyable 🙂
I am a heavy reader – 125 so far this year and still more room to grow that list before the year closes out. In addition to reading, I do a lot of audio books on my commute home, while out walking, or (as part of my goal to bring joy to mundane tasks) while cleaning the kitchen at night.
Also, if reading books for the podcast feels like a chore, could you outsource it? Ie pay someone to read and give you a 4 page summary of important parts? Or read every other chapter and skim the rest? It takes 6-8 hours to read a book – that’s a lot of work time for a podcast episode.
the past few years i’ve managed 60-70 books a year. was expecting a new child this year and thought “i’ll read even more!” (because of night wakeups and feedings). welp, i’m pretty behind on books! i’m almost to 50. so, aiming for just 52 this year. nothing like “of course my subsequent child will have the same patterns and preferences as my first” to keep ya humble! i also had a big slowdown starting in september for whatever reason.
I’m trying come and get me!
I’ll finish just past 50, I think, which will be my highest year ever… though in the middle compared to many! My increase is mostly due to finally enjoying audiobooks and that change is due to Spotify including 15 hours of audiobooks a month for premium subscribers. About halfway through the year I started alternating between audio and physical books for many titles and that sometimes got me into a book enough to not DNF if and also let me get through more books bc I could listen when driving, walking, etc. I think your 10 pages a day idea is a good one! I bet it’ll get you back into the habit and give you some momentum to start wanting to read again. Check out the audiobook option on Spotify too — it’s nice bc you can listen to just a chapter or two of a book, you don’t have to commit to listening to the whole thing. (Also need to note that even with 50 books, I’ve hardly read any of the “best” books even though I read some amazing ones!)
Even though you don’t sound like you’re too worried about this, in case you are, I’d just take it as information about your reading activity in 2024. You already have an established reading habit, it brings you joy most of the time, and you even share it with your family. Those are such awesome things! As other commenters have noted, you lead a very full life–I can see why you “only” read 40 books this year! Reading time and satisfaction ebbs and flows, and can definitely be impacted by life events. I read a lot, usually at least 100 books a year, and I read fewer books this year than last year. My only goal lately has been to read some of the many books I’ve bought but haven’t read–we’re moving and I need to commit or get rid of them!
I’m one of those 100+ books a year but this year I’ll probably finish around 85 so a slower reading year for me as well. I found myself reading more essays on Substack and watching a lot of sports this summer with the Olympics and my family really got into baseball which I’m happy with how I spent that time. I like your goal of pages read vs number of books because that helps breakdown the goal and easier to say I’m going to read my 10 pages and then I’ll for for my walk or do the dishes but that mindset prioritizes reading. This might be controversial too but I read something a while ago that suggested to have multiple books going at once which will make it more likely that there will be something you want to read depending on your mood. I’ve found this to be true for me. I’m usually reading 3 books at the same time, a non-fiction book and then 2 very different fiction books like a mystery and a romance. But at the end of the day, whatever books bring you joy is what matters.
Hi! I think you are just in a phase of life where it is difficult to make the time and mental space to relax and read. I have been an avid reader my entire life . However, when my children were young It was rare for me to be able to sit down and read a book – I mainly read magazines because for some reason I just couldn’t concentrate on a book. As they got older , the house was more peaceful and I started reading again- you will get back into it when the time is right ???? .
I’m going to share a family reading time idea we implemented this past year. We call it “Books and Bakes”. Every weekend, usually Sunday night after dinner, but some flexibility is needed due to my Peds Emergency Medicine life, we sit together as a family, eating a dessert one of us has baked, and reading books for about an hour. We take turns with the bakes and curating the background music. Everyone reads their own books. Devices are on Do Not Disturb and talking is kept to a minimum. I have teenagers, so all four of us can take turns baking, but we have bought out bakes when time was tight.
My goal was getting my kids back into reading and it’s worked! My 16 year old has read over 30 books this year (up from 1 or 2 last year) and my 14 year old has read 5 (up from zero). I know 5 isn’t a lot, but it’s so much better than none!
It’s been one of our favorite family times. Having a cute alliterative name doesn’t hurt.
I love this idea! I think I will copy it 🙂