Books have been an important part of my life- a way of learning about myself, the human experience, and the world, a way to entertain myself, organize my thinking, and keep me company when I’m lonely.
Certainly, there have been periods of my life where I have gotten away from reading for pleasure. After completing my thesis, it was years before I picked up a book for fun. When my children were very little, I admit I did not read much. But when I look at the periods of the fastest personal growth in my life, they are typically proceeded by lots and lots of reading. And like many people last year, I have felt lost, stuck, and alone. So in 2021, I set a nebulous goal to read more.
I read about 35 books in 2021, despite not reading much while I was in the US for the summer. I got a Kindle for Christmas 2020, and it got quite a workout this year. My husband and I mostly replaced a nightly TV show from Netflix with reading before bed. We seem to both be enjoying the shift. The more I read, the more I found that I wanted to read. So many books, so little time!
As my reading list started growing faster than my ability to finish books, I gave myself permission to not finish books that did not turn out to be a good fit for whatever reason. A younger me would have stuck with whatever she started, unless it was an extreme outlier, but that girl had more time than I do. I’ve also started dropping books from my reading list if I lose my enthusiasm before I even start.
At some point during the year, I added audiobooks on my walks, bike rides, and while doing domestic chores around the house. Almost everyone likes being read to. With the caveat that some books work better as audiobooks than others.
So, like may others as we slide toward 2022, I’m reviewing how this year went and thinking about what I want for next year. My 2021 goal to read more surpassed expectations. So I’m keeping it. But I can’t clearly remember everything I read off the top of my head. So for 2022, I plan to use this blog as a public reading record.