Do you love a challenge? Do you love reading? Do you have a huge backlog of books that you haven't gotten around to starting yet?
Me too! So I've gone all in and taken on the challenge to read 200 books in 12 months.
Or 16 books a month. Or 1 book every 1.8 days. Wow, when put like that it seems pretty ridiculous, but hey - it wouldn't be a challenge if it was easy.
So how to crack this, when working full time, having 2 dogs and 3 kids?
Well let me start by saying I'm not coming into this cold. I've been on a journey of literary discovery for a few years now and have reached a consistent throughput of over 100 books in a calendar year.
Through unlearning old habits and applying a combination of new(ish) techniques it may not be as hard as you think. But, I decided to level up my game even more in 2024 - here's what's happened in January.
Summary data:
5 x Fiction books completed - average cycle time of 4.76 days
5 x Non-fiction books completed - average cycle time of 5.08 days
2 x Graphical / Illustrated books completed - average cycle time of 1.5 hours
4 x Compilations - average cycle time of 4.56 days
1 x Abandoned within 24hrs of starting
Arrival rate of 22 books a month
16 books completed in total
What's helped my reading
Using a Kanban system to track this data! (thanks https://kanbanzone.io). My hypothesis is that will help me to identify bottlenecks and gather insights from the trends
Allocating time for reading. I aim for 20 mins each morning either in a coffee shop or on the train. I read in bed each night until I fall asleep, typically between10 to 30 mins
Having (at least) 3 books on the go at the same time. A Non-fiction, a compilation (day time) and a fiction (bed time). I throw in a graphic novel or illustrated book to break things up when I'm getting bored
Having a clear goal and knowing my average monthly throughput needs to be (16.67 books a month) to achieve that.
What's annoying?
The feeling of pressure to rush, when at times I want to slow down, bathe in the authors words and soak up the characters, dialogue or narrative
Not taking time to create visual book summaries. A great technique to retain key content that resonates.
Compilations are best digested slowly, an article in a sitting. Trying to cram these together isn't really working for me.
Every writer has a different style, so with every new book there is 'tuning in' required, which slows things down a little
What will I try differently in Feb?
Take more time with compilations
Create at least 1 visual summary
What were the books and what did I think?
Title & Author | Genre | My Rating |
The Readers Room - Antoine Lauren | Fiction | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
Oh No - Alex Norris | Graphical | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
The Last Devil to Die - Richard Osman | Fiction | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
Come Join our Disease - Sam Byers | Fiction | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
The Trusted Advisor - Maister, Green & Galford | Non-Fiction | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
No Hard Feelings - Fosslien & Duffy | Non-Fiction | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
Bookshop Girl - Chloe Coles | Fiction | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
Gratitude - Oliver Sacks | Compilation | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
Lean Change Management - Jason Little | Non-Fiction | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
How to Stop Time - Matt Haig | Fiction | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
The Last Tree - Luke Adam Walker | Graphical | ⭐⭐⭐ |
The Science of Getting Rich - Wallace C Wattles | Non-Fiction | ⭐⭐⭐ |
The Diet Myth - Tim Spector | Non-Fiction | ⭐⭐⭐ |
Dao De Jing (Illustrated) - Laozi & Tsai | Graphical / Compilation | ⭐⭐⭐ |
The Book of Ideas - Radim Malinic | Compilation | ⭐⭐⭐ |
Strategic Marketing (HBR 10 Must Reads Series) | Compilation | ⭐⭐ |
Awestruck - Jonah Paquetter | Non-Fiction | ABANDONED |
What about you? How's your reading been in January?