How many of you track your annual reading? Do you keep a reading journal or do you track on a digital site like Goodreads? I use Goodreads to track my reading, and I love to set a yearly goal to see if I can reach it. This year my goal was to read 60 books. That’s a little more than a book a week, and a goal I have hit before.
![Cover of Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening](https://derbylibrary.com/blog.derbylibrary.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Stopping-by-Woods-257x300.jpg)
But this year, it just didn’t happen. When I first realized I wasn’t going to hit my goal I was pretty dejected. But the more I think about it, the more I realize it’s OK. I still read 50 books this year — and there are still two weeks for me to finish another book or two. And then I started thinking about why I didn’t hit my goal and realized that it was (mostly) other good things that kept me busy.
I started quilting a few years ago, and I did more sewing this year than I have done in a while. I relish the time I get to spend at my sewing machine creating things. I often listen to an audiobook while I sew, but sometimes I just enjoy the whirring sound of the needle moving along through the fabric. This took away from my regular reading time this year. As did some other things.
![Cover of Bel Canto by Ann Patchett](https://derbylibrary.com/blog.derbylibrary.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Bel-Canto-198x300.jpg)
And I’m happy with the books I read. I read some I loved and some that were just pretty good. I added some new titles to my list of favorites and I revisited some old friends. According to Goodreads’ “My Year in Books,” I have read 17,752 pages in those 50 books as of Dec. 18. The shortest was 32 pages, a picture book of Robert Frost’s “Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening.” The longest? “11/22/63” by Stephen King, which was incredible on audio.
So what’s your goal for 2020? A number of books read? Reading one more book than you read last year? Focusing on a certain genre? Reading for a challenge? Tell us in the comments if you set a reading goal and what it is. I’m still trying to decide what my reading in 2020 is going to look like.
- Writing Challenge Winner: Lifeguard to the Rescue by Bella Johnson - August 23, 2023
- Writing Challenge Winner: Summer by Kayley Roach - August 16, 2023
- Writing Challenge Winner: Bringleclaw and the Cursed Pearl by Layla Mendoza - August 8, 2023