I've decided to read 52 books this year
Wahoo. First post of 2026.
Towards the end of last year I was almost finished with the 24th book I read (Mary Doria Russell's The Sparrow, if you wish to know) and I was thinking, "Man, I read a lot this year." And I did. For me, at least. For others, 24 may not seem like much. But I was proud of how much I read.
I've always enjoyed reading, so setting a goal helps me to focus and explore and meet all these interesting and beautiful worlds and characters.
However, I have one small problem: sometimes, I just don't want to read.
I really don't know why, but occasionally I'll lose any and all will or motivation to read. I'll wake up and go, "Nah, don't wanna." Then I'll say "I'll just read tomorrow." Want to guess how that usually goes? What happens, is I'll not read anything for who knows how long. Sometimes it'll last a two days, other times two months.
But, there's a bit of a silver lining here, I noticed those spells became less common last year. In 2024, I read 12 books. Ideally, that should've been one book per month. Nope, didn't happened. There was a point where I read nothing for two and a half months, then I read a whole trilogy in about two weeks.
But last year, I didn't go through such egregious moments.
That's why I'm interested in reading 52 books this year. A book a week is perfect. I want to read more, of course, but I also want to challenge myself. I have whole stacks of books collecting dust and it pains me to know they're not being read. I've got whole worlds to explore, characters to meet, and interesting things to learn.
I just gotta read. To that end, I'm starting with something I don't normally read: a memoir. Give myself something out of my comfort zone. I'm starting with Dreams in a Time of War by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o.
Wish me luck.