How Many Books will you read in 2020??

Working in a primary school library I often get the chance to ask kids the question:

How many books do you read 

in a year? 

The answers can be hilarious! 

Some kids look completely mystified. Dunno - Two? 

Others brim with confidence and enthusiasm - 700!? 

I was never sure how many books I read each year until I started keeping track via the Goodreads Reading Challenge (Go to: www.goodreads.com). I'd had book journals etc in the past, some gorgeous bound books - but they were easy to misplace or forget about.  

Once I'd joined the goodreads site, I was able to set myself a Reading Challenge goal and then search up the titles of any book I wanted to read/was reading/had read. It also gives the opportunity to rate books on a star system and to write a review/notes. I particularly like this aspect because it means that when I look back at the review I've written (sometimes just a few short lines) it jogs my memory so that I can actually remember the story - what I liked about it/didn't like etc. Don't know about you, but my overloaded brain usually can't recall much from a book I've read once a few days/weeks/months have passed. 

When my kids were really small I think I went through some years where my book reading was sorely tested. Notice I only say I think that's what happened...those days were often a complete blur! When I did have the rare opportunity to get into a book, life would invariably mean that actually finishing the book was not just challenging, but often impossible! That said, I know I devoured Harry Potter in the early 2000s. So I guess the babies took care of themselves for a while there, as we all know that your first reading of Potter is the exquisite experience of NOT BEING ABLE TO PUT THE BOOK DOWN!! 

So in the last few years, I've gradually upped my challenge - to see if I can push myself to read just a few more each year. I read a mix of Tween and YA books along with Adult novels, and I love this mix as it gives me the chance to read some pretty uplifting and fabulous works along with the usual crime/mystery/war/contemporary grunge stuff.

Here's some official figures from the GoodReads site, as of the time of posting:

Participants:         1,924,145
Books Pledged: 85,012,414
Avg. Books Pledged: 44
Time Left :                       350 days, 1 hour



Do you keep track of what you read? Do you feel the need to? Do you prefer to to keep a record online or on paper?