Goodreads.com runs the yearly Reading Challenge year after year. One has to commit to reading a certain number of books in the year to participate. There is no award but it is just a personal goal. Reading more is a goal for me as I very strongly believe that people whom I consider smart, are also well-read. Mind you, that doesn’t work oppositely (if this is a word). Every year, I have tried to increase the number of books I read than the previous year. And like how always it happens, life happens and your promise runs out of gas. So, as is shown below, I have never been able to reach even 12 books in any year since I started tracking this. Shameful indeed! But over time, I have read more Non-Fiction than Fiction. Real-life is thrilling enough nowadays. Also, a good Non-Fiction would be as captivating as any fictional book if you have an interest in the topic. In any case, storytelling would rule in any book there is.
I might not have read the most number of books. But, I have read the most this year. Seriously a lot. Not books per se, but medical articles. Just going by the variety of topics read, it ranged from Haematology, Diabetes, Sarcoma, Immunotherapy, Dendritic Cells Therapy, Metastasis, Obesity, Pneumonia, and of course, Covid-19. And many more horrible but widely prevalent things.
Committing to reading gives a tangible goal. There is no compulsion but like they say, without a goal, you cannot score. If one could balance between how much content one wants to consume, through watching and through reading, and how much content, one wants to generate, that would work out the best. That would always be a struggle though but I wish to be in the group that wants to create more than consume.
I think my plan for next year would be to not go by what’s trending to read. But, I would go into what exactly I want to know about.
Photo by Road Trip with Raj on Unsplash
