New Years resolutions have never been something I’ve ever really been into. I’ve always had the mindset of if there’s something you want to do , then just do it. No reason to wait until tomorrow or Monday or the first of the month, or whenever. There’s only ever been one “Resolution” I’ve ever really stuck with and that’s how many books I want to challenge myself to read. It’s a goal I set every year without fail.

Each year I log the books I read on my Goodreads account as a way to keep track of everything I’ve read and I use their challenge feature to see just how many books I can manage to read in 365 days. Back in the day I used to always challenge myself to reading a hundred books a year but as I’ve gotten older I’ve lowered my expectations so I don’t have the pressure in December to attempt to read twenty (or more) books at the end of the year while also enjoying the holidays and everything that comes with them. Back in January of 2020 I gave myself the modest goal of 75 books for the year.

I knew I’d be busy with work and wanted to set a goal I could feel good about having reached come December. For me, 75 books was a reasonable, and perfectly attainable, goal to achieve in 12 months, since six books a month is still something I would do in a wildly busy season. It was, frankly, a goal I planned to surpass and still feel good about having achieved. But I had no idea what was coming.

2020 was a wild, and wretched, year for the most part, but in terms of my to-be-read pile, this year became been the ultimate success.

By the first week of October 2020 I’d already read over 150 books! And I ended the year having read 185 books in all (and yes, I spent most of the evening of December 31st reading so I could get to that nice, round number).

Granted, reading turned out to be my only indoor hobby that didn’t involve other people, so it was ideal for being locked down during quarantine, and I was furloughed for a couple of months, which left me with an overabundance of free time in the spring.

I don’t expect I’ll ever be able to accomplish this again in the future so I’m fully embracing the moment while also digging into as many books as I can in 2021! And yes, I’m already making headway on my 2021 reading goal!

xo,

Kate