As 2021 comes to a close, I thought I’d share a look into my Reading Goals and successes for the year! After all, you dear readers are the reason I stuck to the challenge and stated accountable.

On that note, if you are starting out with a reading challenge, I do recommend Goodreads (no affiliation) simply because it is easy and inspiring. Many budding and veteran readers abound the platform.

So, let’s dive right in.

Goal:

I started out with a goal of 30 books but surpassed it at 37. Yahoo!

Metrics:

Looking closer at what I read, I have done a mix of comics, illustrated books, non fiction and fiction. I even did short guides- so despite the fact that I exceeded my reading goal, I averaged a lot less than last year.

For context, the longest and shortest book I read were:

The ambitious girl in me sometimes wants to up the ante and plow through longer books just for the sake of impressive metrics. But, with wisdom comes the realization that it’s far better to read a book that brings me joy, inspiration or a Eureka moment than see an uptick in the number of pages read.

I value my time a lot, so I no longer can justify reading a book if it does not keep me engaged or provide some value. I simply do the Marie Kondo equivalent of reading, acknowledge the book is not meant for me at that time and move on to texts that do bring me joy!

Quality:

Thanks to the pursuit of happiness and inspiration in my reading challenge, I was able to savor some fantastic books, discover authors I had never read and explore topics that questioned many of my formerly undisputed notions.

Noteworthy are:

And of course, among the books I read that were the least popular and most popular based on ratings by other Goodreads readers were also two great books that I enjoyed this year.

I do have to thank my cuz and working mom role model S for the excellent book recommendation of The Convenience Store Woman. What a powerful read!

Another 2 noteworthy mentions from this year are the comic compilation Adult Time and the Japanese bestseller Before the Coffee Gets Cold:

Reviews:

I did review quite a few books on Goodreads and definitely rated all the books I read.

Compared the the average rating of 4.0 for most avid readers, mine is high. But that is also because I am selective about what I read and being discerning about what I spend my leisure time on.

Summary:

Overall, I am very happy with the way my reading has been this year.

I explored many genres, authors, new releases and had fun! This makes me so excited for 2022 and the reading I shall get done in the coming year.

What about you? What did your reading look like? What do you want it to be like?

Here’s to a successful 2022! Happy New Year and keep reading!

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