tl;dr

To resolve as "YES", I will start and finish 52 books (non-audiobooks) before the end of 2024

(Yes, I'm betting "YES" on myself on this market)

The Goal

I want to do more reading again and I figure finishing a book a week* sounds like a good goal. So the plan is to start and finish 52 books in 2024.

The Details

*Note this doesn't mean I'll read a book every week. The goal is to just average a book a week. If things go well, sometimes I'll finish more than one in a week. Some might take me longer. I also tend to read multiple books during the same period so there might be more than one "active" book during the week. Here are some more details:

What counts as a "book"

• Only reading (not audiobooks) counts but it can be a physical paper book or an ebook.

• The book has to be of a decent size on the order of at least 100 (paper) pages.

  • I don't typically read books shorter than that so I don't think it'll be an issue.

• The book can be fiction or non-fiction.

  • I tend to read much more non-fiction and technical books. In theory, these can end being faster to "read' because there are more diagrams and such. But I find from my experience it tends to even out where it takes more time for me to "digest" sections of technical books.

• It can't be a book I've read recently; ideally something completely new to me.

  • There might be some books I've read a long time ago (think high school & university) that I might like to read. I think it makes sense to count these.

• I won't count when I'm just skimming through a book.

  • I'll do this a lot with technical books and mostly the ones I've already read.

Resolving "YES"

I begin and finish reading at least 52 books in 2024. These books must start in 2024 (not before) and the 52nd book must be completed before the start of 2025.

Resolving "NO"

I finish less than 52 books when 2025 starts. Books don't count as "fractionally" complete; incomplete books count as "0".

My History

I've been tracking how much I read for the past couple years. This past year I read only ~20 books completely. This past year definitely felt too little reading for me and even had to pick it up towards the later half of the year. The year before, I read about 40 60 different books. (EDIT: Realized I misremembered and finished about 40 halfway through 2022, but only ~20 more for the last 6 months of 2022 for a total of ~60 books in 2022.)

Changes This Year

I should be starting a new job in January of 2024 and I'm planning to be commuting some of the week where I won't be driving. So I think I'll have a bit more time to dedicate to reading. I also plan to sign up for at least one digital subscription service where you can access their library of technical books (like from Manning or O'Reilly Media) which I think will make it easier for me to find and read more.

But who knows what 2024 will bring :D