2016: Year in Books

I read 50 books in 2016!

In 2015 I completed a Goodreads reading challenge of 20 books, which I considered quite a feat. I set 2016’s reading challenge at 20 as well. As the year progressed, however, I was so far ahead of the challenge that I kept raising the bar, first to 30, then 40, before landing at 50.

This is a lot of books to me. Before 2016, I had read about 230 Goodreads books according to my estimations – although I’m sure there are still some childhood books missing, it’s pretty accurate. That means that in 2016 I read somewhere around maybe a fifth of all books I’ve read my entire life, and I’ve always considered myself a reader.

I read a number of classics, including East of Eden and Moby-Dick which is now probably my favorite novel (I own about 6 different editions of Moby-Dick now, haha), and most of the bibliography of Cormac McCarthy. I mostly read on my Kindle, but I also listened to several audiobooks, a medium I discovered properly this year. It’s a great way to read classics, I find. And I fell in love with narrators as much as any author I like; Frank Muller is my top dog (may he rest in peace).

50 books isn’t all that much compared to a lot of other people, but I’m pretty proud of myself all the same. And it wasn’t even very hard! It was just about getting into the mindset of reading constantly. Pull up my Kindle on the subway instead of Facebook. Listen to audiobooks while walking around instead of podcasts or music. Go to bed early and read, instead of arguing on reddit.