2019 Book Challenge Update

 
Reading book
 

At the beginning of 2019, I decided that I wanted to read a lot more. I grew up with books as a big part of my life. They meant more to me than stories or information to consume. To me, books were an escape and an experience. And they allowed me to connect to others through a shared love of books. I wrote a post early last year about my goal to read 30 books in 2019. Here’s that post if you want to check out my thoughts about reading, why I chose to do that challenge and some of the books on my list.

It’s been a year since that post and I want to update you on how that challenge went…

Spoiler alert: I did not reach 30 books. In fact, I didn’t even get close. But I’m honestly not disappointed about that at all.

Don’t get me wrong. I still love reading, and I haven’t lost my passion for books. I actually think this challenge made me fall in love with reading even more. I adore reading and 2019 allowed me to remember why I love reading so much. Despite the fact that I didn’t reach my goal, I still really enjoyed the act of reading. I had a book sitting near my bed every night and most nights I read a bit, even if it was just one page. I was so happy to be reading and to connect back to my love for books.

I noticed that I was learning a lot through this book challenge. I never felt pressured to finish enough books or to reach my goal, but I felt motivated to read more because I had set a goal for myself. I’d set the goal knowing that I didn’t want to be hard on myself about it. Knowing that I wouldn’t be upset or disappointed if I didn’t reach it. Knowing that it might be a little unrealistic for me. Knowing all these things, I still went through with it. And for that, I am so so proud of myself.

Here’s what I found through this reading challenge:

  • I read more than I usually do (I finished 12 books this year vs. sporadically reading maybe 4-5 books in a year)

  • I wasn’t waiting for a vacation to read. I really tried to use my downtime to read

  • I stopped reading books that weren’t exciting to me. This is not something I allowed myself to do before. Before would push myself to finish a book that I wasn’t enjoying and the result of that was that it would take me AGES to finish the book. Or I would read it slowly or ignore it until I had to return it to the library, which is silly because I could have been reading a book I actually enjoyed in that time

  • I would sleep SO much better if I read before bed rather than watch a show

  • Books bring me a lot of comfort. Even having them nearby or carrying one with me makes me feel happy

  • I realized that you don’t have to read a lot to love books

  • I also realized that if you read what you love, you will get through more books

  • I cannot read two books at once. It just won’t happen no matter how hard I try to convince myself that it will

  • Non-fiction tends to take me a lot longer to read than fiction. Having a fiction book lined up to read after a non-fiction and vice versa really kept me going

  • It’s so much fun to take a book with you on a walk and find a comfy spot to read outside. Reading views/environment are important

  • I devour books on planes. Traveling = lots of reading

What else this reading challenge gave me:

  • I’ve been able to connect with people on social media who also love books. I’ve gotten so many recommendations from Instagram and have loved sharing my honest thoughts about books on my social media as well.

  • I joined a bookclub! We just started meeting at the end of last year and we are on our second book now. I love our group and it’s so exciting to be part of a a lovely group of ladies and talking about a shared interest.

My tips if you want to do a reading challenge:

  • Be realistic with your goal. If you don’t read much and find it hard to finish books quickly, then start with a realistic goal like 5-10 books. This way you won’t feel overwhelmed and you will be more motivated because you know you can actually attain your goal

  • Find a partner or join/create a bookclub. It’s nice to have someone to be accountable to and it can help push you to read more. It also gives you someone to chat about the book with

  • Share your thoughts about each book. Whether it’s just personally in a journal or online on social media. Writing out my thoughts about each book helped me be more intentional when I read

  • Don’t over plan when you’re going to finish a book by. Every book is so different and you don’t need the added pressure of a “deadline” to finish a book

  • Stop reading a book if it’s not interesting to you and move on to the next

  • Pick a genre or a couple genres that are exciting for you. You will get through books MUCH faster if they are about a topic you like. For example, I love mystery/thrillers. I know I can read those very quickly. When I feel like I’m moving a bit slow through books, I’ll find a good thriller and I’ll get through it in a few days.

Would I do it again?

100% yes. Taking into account the tips above though. Especially the one about being more realistic with my goal. I would hands down do it again. In fact, I’m going to do it for 2020. I’m going to make my goal 15 books this year. I have a lot of changes coming this year in my life (update on that soon), and I have a feeling I’ll have more time to read, but 15 sounds like a good number for now.

Books I want to read this year:

What books do you want to read this year? Any book suggestions I should add to my list? Comment below :)

BooksKhadijah HajiReading, Book Club, Books, 20191 Comment