Discussion // I Don’t Come Close to Reading That Many
Towards the end of 2017, I was commenting on some bookish sites and noticed that other book bloggers / reviewers were talking about not finishing their overall reading challenges for the year. I didn’t think anything of it, I was close to my challenge goal, but no cigar! Then I noticed the amount of books listed in their challenge… 200 books for some, 300 books for others.
WHAT??
I think I literally said, “Holy Hell,” when I saw those high numbers – well, high for me.
How does one retain all those yummy stories up in their brain?
Now these goals were a mix of traditional reading and audio, but still, hundred of books! I say kudos to any bookish that can read or listen to that many books. But, it also got me thinking – how many books is TOO many books?
Of course this questions is a very personal question and every reader understands what they can and cannot accomplish. For me, when I was thinking about how many is too many, I was also thinking about how I could retain all of those stories. Being honest with myself, I could never retain the story or characters from all those books, except for maybe the most exceptional, or maybe the worst.
I think that in order to accept a large reading challenge like that, I would need to approach the list like a business, allowing for a certain percentage to be duds, and then move on a scale from there. Right now, I am just nowhere near the level of reader I think I should be to attempt that large of a reading list. I think my brain might blow up if I did!
For those bookish out there that have attempted and or have finished a challenge with a large challenge amount (100+ books), how do you focus in order to process the books and complete your challenge? Do you just go in for the read; break into buckets, or maybe focus on like/similar books within your challenge?
For now, my reading challenge goal is to accomplish 26 books, and if I can throw some more pages at the challenge list, I will. I definitely want to accomplish the goal successfully before adding an additional amount. Accomplishing the 2018 goal may bring a ton more books for 2019 reading.
I read over 140 books last year. And yes, I also read mixed formats which really helps A LOT! I am a slow reader but audiobooks help me A LOT!
I don’t think there is such a thing as reading too much. There are just some readers that are speed readers and some read at their own pace. Both are okay. I’m definitely jealous of those people who can read over 200 books and kudos to them. I’m not sure I can read that many, though! The important thing is that they read!
Wow! 140 books is awesome! Kudos to you! I am definitely a slower pace reader. I do have reads where I can finish in one day and I’m amazed, but they are so good I can’t help it. Then there are those that are even shorter in length, but just test my patience and take me forever to read.
I read over 200 books for the past few years and this year I reduced my goal to 100 to give myself more time for other things. But, here’s a secret—all those books DON’T stay in my brain all that well. I’m okay with that because I enjoy them while I read them, but I can’t keep all the details straight, for sure.