100: And the Pressure of It All
What Have I Done?
I started this year off writing about how I don’t want to do New Year’s Resolutions (here) and immediately made a Goodreads reading challenge to read one hundred books this year.
I am currently on #7. Yeah, I’m doing great.
So, why don’t I just stop? Because I’m tired of that.
I’ve been doing that my whole life.
I Just Like the Roundness of 100
100 isn’t a goal for me to post on social media. I’ve been wanting to read 100 books in a year for — well — years now. I just like the roundness of it. The singular one, the circular zeroes, the completion and symmetry of one hundred. One hundred authors. One hundred books. It’s nice. It pleases my brain.
I Honestly Would Love to Read that Much
With the way my TBR is a couple hundred away from a solid thousand (and those are the books I remember to put on my list) I would love to read a couple hundred a year. There are so many books I want to read that are already published and what’s really amazing is that there are just as many going to be published that I will want to read too. I’m never going to set myself up for an impossible task of reading a couple hundred a year (I would need a much more leisurely lifestyle to be able to do that; perhaps in retirement I’ll try for that many - if I can retire).
It’s Not Completely Out of Reach
A couple hundred books a year would be a little out of reach. But one hundred? Reachable. I’ve always been a fast reader — and by fast I don’t mean skimming the pages, I mean reading every single word on every page. I just am. I can’t explain it, especially since I’m dyslexic. It’s just what my brain does. I gobble whole sentences in seconds.
The entire time I’m watching a movie in my head. Because I also read with a visual inside my brain, imagining every moment, setting, and character expression in full-color, live-action 4K, etc. etc., [insert more film/digital verbiage here, or whatever].
So, here’s 100 reasons why I’m not quitting my goal of reading one hundred books this year:
JUST KIDDING
Here’s 10 reasons why I’m not quitting my goal of reading one hundred books this year:
Reading 100 books in a year has been a long-time goal that I would like to achieve.
Not stopping even though it’s May is a way to build a habit of moving forward with a goal even after a false start or hiccups.
I have way too many books I want to read to be reading as little as I have been.
I actively want to prioritize reading over scrolling (TikTok, Insta), watching (YouTube, though that is far less, Netflix, etc.), and listening (podcasts, music). None of these things are bad, but my first love is reading and I am feeling the lack.
Reading genuinely relaxes me and relieves stress. There’s a physical and mental benefit that is hard to ignore or take for granted.
As a writer, reading is integral to my well of creativity. Writers are always readers always. The more I read, the better I write.
It’s always been something I loved deeply, and I’ve been in this weird headspace where I am missing it and yet unable to do it. I want to get over that.
This does need to be said twice: I have way too many books I want to read to not be reading
I love yapping/writing about books and I can’t yap and/or write about them if I’m not reading them. DUH (*directed to myself*)
At this point, I also just want to achieve this goal purely out of spite. I didn’t think I’d make it to 37 (which I did just this past Saturday!!!!) and now I’m in this state of being where I have goals for the first time in years and - damn it all - I want to achieve them.
What is a goal that you have been putting off? Is it time to attempt to reach it? Or do you also have a reading goal this year, and what is it? Let me know in the comments!