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How I read 61 books last year - Jan 2025 (#51)

Welcome to 2025 dear reader! Yes you read that right. Your dude Brent read 61 books last year… Ok, so not EVERY book was a big novel… but it was my biggest year of book reading yet! I’d like to share how I did it for any of you out there that want to increase the amount you read. Also, I’d like to share my biggest reflection on doing so…

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Motivation

In the case of good books, the point is not to see how many of them you can get through, but rather how many can get through you.

-Mortimer J. Adler

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Let me start off by saying reading 61 books was never really a goal or anything. It just kind of happened. There’s plenty of people out there who read much much more than that, but for me it felt like an accomplishment of sorts. As such, I thought I’d share a few things that helped me read more than usual. In no particular order here they are:

• Over half were audiobooks. I have the AirPod headphones that I take with me virtually everywhere. If I was driving, doing the dishes, or working around the house I was listening to an audiobook. I also signed up for a free three month audible trial and did a 3 books for the price of 1 deal with them so I could listen to some newer books (I only did this because I’m a cheapwad). I also figured out there are a ton of free audiobooks on Spotify. In addition, I use the Libby app through my local library. It’s free, but you have to wait your turn... and can take months. I always have like 9 books I’m waiting for lol. My last hack is that I listen to books a little faster than regular speed. I’m no freak, just like 1.25X is usually more comfortable for me than the average speed. Of course it depends on the reader of the audiobook, but I’d encourage you to play around with it.

• We’ve built a culture in our house that is very book and reading friendly. It’s not like we go nuts or anything, but we don’t follow a budget when it comes to buying books. We need a new book, and its not at the library, we buy it. We also make it a point to visit bookstores and libraries when were out and about. It’s also not uncommon for us to take books with us when we go places. We let books get a free pass when others might not… we let our kids take multiple books to bed if they want… we even let our daughter bring books to the dinner table (hasn’t become a regular thing… yet)… That culture just fosters more reading.

• I quit books I wasn’t feeling early and indulged my guilty reading pleasures. I only give a book a few chapters to reel me in, if I’m not enjoying it I stop. I don’t care if it’s some major classic or everyone is reading it. I just cut it loose if it’s not for me and move on to something I am excited to read. In that same vein, I’ve found a few authors such as Michael Lewis, Ben Mezrich, and Bill Bryson that I know I enjoy virtually everything they write. So I read their stuff quite a bit, especially after I get through more of a technical read (non-fiction, older novel, that kind of thing) I read one of these as a ‘pallet cleanser’ of sorts. If I ever start to feel like I’m not enjoying reading I try to recognize the problem is what I am reading, not me! Figure out what you LOVE to read and read it!

• I started tracking what I was reading. For whatever reason, it’s just one of those universal truths that what you measure, you improve on. I started tracking each book I read in 2019 and the result has been I’ve read MUCH more on average than I did before. It also helps when people ask me for book recommendations... I have a note on my phone I can just whip out and reference instead of doing the mental gymnastics of trying to remember what I’ve read recently. It also helps me recognize what I like and don’t like as a reader.

• I’m a member of a book club. I STRONGLY recommend being part of a book club. Being in a book club has caused me to read books I NEVER would have read any other way and broadened my horizons immensely. It’s also wonderful just for the camaraderie that comes with it. Shout out to the boys of the GLBC!!!

So ya… thats the gist of how I did it. One thing I realized though is that because I got so into finishing books, I wasn’t nearly as focused on learning something from them as I should be. I was far too into the dopamine hit of finishing a book instead of actually LEARNING and ENJOYING it. As an example, I read Meditations this year by Marcus Aurelius. This is a book I should have been reading in chunks and then pondering what I read after to really get the most benefit. Did I do that? Nope, I plowed through it and moved onto the next one. STUPID. 

So this year my goal is to slow it down and really try to extract as much value or enjoyment as I can from the books I read. I also plan to just listen to fewer books altogether to leave my mind free to ponder more. Reading is like anything else enjoyable, it’s great, but you gotta not be dumb about it.

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That’s all folks!

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