I’m pretty goal-oriented, and there is an almost inevitable touch of competition embedded in that trait. I try not to let it spill over to my reading life, though. It’s too important to me to to reduce it to some type of race.
When I set my reading goal for the year, part of the thrill is the challenge of reading more than I’ve read in any prior year. Not because that somehow makes me better or wiser or whatever. It doesn’t. I simply get excited at the thought of finding even more time to do one of the things I love most.
Sometimes when I talk about the books I’ve read recently (which is often – just try and get me to stop – it’s a lost cause), the person I’m talking to will say something like, “I’ve only been reading this one book for the last [insert arbitrary length of time].” As if that’s not JUST AS EXCITING. In fact, the longer it takes to read something, the more impact it’s likely to have, so I definitely want to hear what you have to say about it.
Whether you spend five minutes a week or five hours a day reading, my only concern is this – do you enjoy it? Because that’s the whole point.
Reading is one of my favorite pastimes. It’s fun, relaxing, informative, engaging, etc. I read to learn and to be entertained. I read not only to unwind but also to connect with others.
The goal I set each year is not an arbitrary number, but it’s not a competition, either. It’s a wellness meter. How much time I spend reading (and thus how many books I finish) is a direct reflection of how I’m doing. When I’m not reading, it’s usually because I’m either too anxious, depressed, or over-committed to have the time and/or the focus to do so. When I’m not reading, I’m probably also not writing (or doing much of anything creative, for that matter).
I probably had more free time in 2020 than any other year in my entire adult life, but I didn’t even come close to my yearly goal. The first month of that year that I only read one or two books the whole month, that was the only sign that I wasn’t doing ok and needed to seek help that I, in that particular state, was able to recognize.
By contrast, right now I am 16 books ahead of schedule on my goal for this year, and I’ve been reading about the same number of books every month. Which DELIGHTS me, because it means that not only has my ability to focus been fairly consistent but also that I’ve not been too busy to make time for the things I enjoy.
I don’t know what reading means to all of you (although I’d love to hear it – drop a comment if you’d like), but it’s part of how I make sense of the world and my place in it. It’s not something to just be crossed off a checklist or used to feed some weird delusion of superiority. It’s not a competition.
M. Suzanne Terry 
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