Mid-year reading 2022
Since I started keeping a reading journal in 2019, I also started tracking a lot of numbers about the books I read, not only in my journal but also in a massive Excel file containing loads of data on my reading habits.
Because I have now collected a couple of years of data, I can now also make some nice comparisons about my reading over the years.
Now that 2022 has passed it’s midyear point, I thought it would be fun to look at how I’m doing with my reading goals so far!
In my reading journal for this year I had set myself four reading goals, which weren’t all that different to the goals I had previous years, only slightly differing in number depending on the results of last year.
I write my reading journal mainly in my own native tongue, with is Flemish (a form of Dutch), so to summarize, my 2022 reading goals are:
- Read 100 books
- Read 10% in Dutch
- Read 30% from owned library
- Read 5 books of more than 550 pages
For the 1st and 4th goal you can see at a glance that I am well on my way to achieving these reading goals, but let me take a closer look at all four, together with the numbers from my Excel.
For three years now, I’ve been striving to read 100 books per year. So to be on the right track, I should be able to reach the 50 mark by the middle of the year, which is clearly the case!
However, compared to 2020 and 2021, where I also had the goal of 100 books, my number of books read is somewhat lower. I can point to a few reasons for this.
For example, 2020 and 2021 were special years, where our social life became virtually non-existent, so there was more reading time anyway. In 2022 we have more and more returned to normal: we see more people again, days off become more filled, we can travel and we also have to go physically in to work. All of this has taken away from my reading time.
Another possible cause is the fact that I make a conscious effort to DNF books I’m not enjoying.
This year, for example, I already set aside 3 books, in which I already read a considerable portion. These books are not counted in the number of books read, even though I already read about 550 pages of them altogether.
But! But all this doesn’t really add up when I look at the total number of pages read.
Looking only at 2021, I may have read about 10% fewer books in 2022, but on the other hand I read 10% more pages in 2022 than at the same time in 2021. My average finished book is also about 50 pages thicker than previous years, which is not illogical if I tell you a little further about my 4th reading goal!
Ah, my eternal stumbling block: reading in my own native language.
I always know in advance when I set this reading goal that there is little chance that I will achieve this reading goal. This year I have set my target at 10% Dutch books and currently I am only at 5%.
I actually repeat everything I have to say about this over and over again: my bookcase contains mainly English-language books, I also prefer to read original English books in the original language, I also mainly get news about newly published books from English-language sources, etc.
So yes, I still think it’s good that I have this goal, just to be aware of it and to occasionally encourage me to look at what appeals to me on the Dutch-language book market, but I will not be forcing myself to read a book that doesn’t appeal to me just because it’s written in my native language. I’ll see and in the meantime just do my thing 😉
Things are going well for the books in my bookcase and I’m perfectly on track to reach my goal as I already read 30% from my physical bookcases. It is true that more and more books are being added to my collection too, but I’ll keep quiet about that for now 😛
Compared to previous years, I don’t have much to say, since it actually looks pretty stable.
Finally, for my last reading goal, I’m doing really well this year. Not only have I met my goal of 5 books of over 550 pages by the middle of the year, but I also exceeded them with no less than 4 books!
And when I look forward to the books that I definitely still want to read this year, there are still a few books to come!
So all considered, 2022 is shaping up to be a great reading year once again, solely based on the status of my goals.
I’ll do a more thorough analysis of the reading year when 2022 is closed, but for now, I’m definitely on the right track!
How is your reading year going so far?
Cheers,
Charlotte
