A Book a Week

Every year on December 31st I find myself thinking about what I want my resolutions to be and typically end up with something vague, like “be healthier,” or something completely unrealistic for me, like “run for an and hour and a half every day.” This past year, however, I decided to challenge myself yet keep it realistic. I decided I would read a book a week, or fifty two books, in 2019.

To all of you out there thinking, “wow, I could never do that,” let me make it clear that I probably read three books for fun in 2018. I am not a fast reader. In fact, I’m a pretty slow reader. I never caught on to the idea of skimming and pretty much read and digest every word on the page. Until this year, I wouldn’t even say that I liked reading all that much. I would read a book for a few days, put it down for a month or two, and then pick it back up when it randomly popped into my head.

Some people argue that the book a week goal is silly because you skip out on longer or more difficult books due to the limited time allotted for each book. To this I say: fair enough. I most definitely avoided some books because I knew they would take a long time to read. Was every book I read quality literature? No. Would I even recommend every book I read? Absolutely not. What I will say is, even the books I did not particularly enjoy, taught me something. Whether that was a word I didn’t know or a perspective I had never considered, I walked away from each book having gained something.

One thing I particularly enjoyed about this challenge was the connections I was able to make with people. Almost all readers love to talk about their recent favorites. I knew I could always ask my cousin what book she’s most recently loved and immediately get five great recommendations , as well as asking the Facebook community and having people I hadn’t heard from in years pipe up to tell me about their most recent read. I have gotten in touch with people that I haven’t spoken to in ages just to talk about how much I loved a book they recommended. Books connect us in a way I never could have imagined before becoming an avid reader.

I loved a lot of books from this year, but a few standouts for me were Where’d You Go Bernadette, Where the Crawdads Sing, The Woman in the Window, Before We Were Yours, Three Women, The Most Fun We Ever Had, Daisy Jones and the Six, Less, Everything I know About Love, and The Nightingale. I hope your 2020 is filled with lots of books and learning and connections made with people around you. Let me know what your most recent favorites have been so I can add them to my list for 2020!