In 2019, I had a crazy idea – read 100 books in a year. I had just finished my busy work season and was finally experiencing some downtime. The last book I had read was months prior which was plain blasphemous. Most of my time not working or hanging with my family is generally spent reading but when you’re working 80+ hours a week all you have time for is sleep and the grocery store. Even laundry takes a back seat (although I’m not as bad as my sister who will literally buy new underwear instead of doing a load of laundry). So when my life had calmed down again I decided to give myself a challenge – read 100 books in a year. You’ve seen the hashtag on Instagram I’m sure. People all over the world undertake the 100 book challenge and I was finally ready to be one of them.
Not for the Faint of Heart
Oh man. Like I said previously, I am an avid reader. I read constantly and I absolutely adore it! But even this challenge was, well, challenging. Reading essentially two books a year is not for the faint of heart. Usually the urge to read comes naturally but at some point (maybe after book 53), I ran out of things I actively wanted to read. I forced myself to read books that I probably otherwise would have dropped. You just don’t have time to read 150 pages of a book and decide you don’t want to finish. YOU AIN’T GOT TIME FOR THAT! Girl, you’ve got to put those big kid panties on and keep trekking.
Total Pages Read = 40,739
Percent of Books Read by Genre
Lessons Learned
I am so glad to be done with this challenge. At times it was plain exhausting but I’m definitely patting myself on the back for finishing it. And I learned some important lessons to boot!
- I HATE forcing myself to read something I’m not invested in.
- Don’t get into a genre rut.
- I tend to read fantasy/sci-fi books but this challenge forced me to read whatever was available at my local library and it wasn’t always something I’d normally pick up, but I found myself loving the change.
- Ask for book recommendations.
- At some point, I ran out of things I wanted to read and was tired of reading sub-par books. The solution? Ask EVERYONE you meet to recommend a book. First, you have an interesting talking point if you don’t know the person, and second, you get introduced to a diverse array of authors and novels.
- Get a freaking library card.
- I cannot stress this one enough. Man, I can’t afford to buy 100 books…are you freaking kidding me? Do I look like a millionaire over here? You can’t see me, but NO. That would be close to $2,000 and more like my mortgage not my book budget. Jeez. But no sweat – support your local library and get a library card because it will save you so much money.
Long A** Book List
Without further ado, check out the 101 books* I read in the last year.
*Seriously?! As I drafted the list below, I realized I miscounted and actually read 101 books! I can read but I never said I could count…
Alyssa Flores
Alyssa reads hundreds of books a year and is on a never-ending quest to find the perfect book.
