Do you wanna start a book club?
First of all, I feel like you all must know that, in my head, that was sung like Anna a la Disney’s Frozen. Second, the title of this post might be a bit misleading. I apologize. However, I do want to start a book club, just not one that follows the traditional format of the group reads a preselected book, the group discusses said book, a new book is chosen, and the cycle continues. No, I want to start a different kind of book club. But, maybe I should give a little background to my idea.
Let’s rewind to the start of 2020.
I am an avid YouTube viewer. I watch far more content on YouTube than I watch any TV shows or movies. While doing a bit of perusing the recommended-for-me videos, I stumbled upon a video that piqued my interest—this video, to be precise.
And after watching all 26 minutes and 11 seconds of her discussing her top ten books, some things stood out to me:
I find it fascinating that she does stats on the genres of books she reads, the variety of authors she reads, etc.
I think it is cool how she tracks how many books she has read in a year.
Then, I began thinking: I can do that. Why don’t I do that?
I’m a voracious reader. I go through thousands of pages a year and love every second of them. Why don’t I start keeping track of what I read?
So, I did.
For the entirety of 2020, I logged every book I read or completed throughout the year. I included the books I finished because I’m notorious for starting a book, then putting it down for a very long period before I ever pick it up again. So, I wanted to log everything that I finished that year. Also, I included audiobooks, as well. Not that most people would claim that listening to an audiobook doesn’t count as reading a book, so I don’t know if anyone reading this would disagree with my choice. Still, I absolutely think that listening to audiobooks counts. It’s the same thing as being read a story. Literally, and for someone with a full-time job and is in graduate school, if I want to consume any books simply for my enjoyment, it would only happen via audiobooks for most of the year.
Anyway, at the end of the year, I had read a total of 43 books. In my opinion, this does not seem like that many books considering it was 2020. But, in my defense, I was not someone who didn’t work while in lockdown. I was still working and doing graduate school, so my life didn’t change all that much in the realm of responsibility.
Nonetheless, even if I feel like I could have read more, I’m proud of that 43. And I decided that I would do this challenge all over again in 2021.
That is where this post comes in.
Do you want to join me? That is what I’m proposing this book club be: a group of people who love reading, enjoying books of their choosing throughout the year. Tracking every title and author, maybe even doing some analysis at the end. The sky is the limit. Then, we pick out our favorites or most notable and share them at the end of the year. It’s no pressure. There isn’t any quota to meet or a number of chapters that need to be completed in a month. Read at your own pace and enjoy the books you choose to read. Just keep a list—that simple.
So, are you up for it? I hope you are and I can’t wait to see how many books you’ve read at the end of the year!
Until next time,
Blessings,
Sarah
