[grouchysmurf]

The question is whether why you would ever want to read 50 books a year; as if reading as many was an indication of... of what, exactly?

My take is that it is more worth to read 10 books year you learn / get something for you from rather than 50 just for the sake of ticking a checkbox off the list.

[prepend]

It’s an indication that you read a lot.

I don’t think it’s useful for sorting people or friends, but it tells something of someone’s preferences.

Of course people can fudge the numbers or read tiny books or whatever but that’s like cheating at video games.

I don’t think the goal should be broadcast or talked about, but having some goal is useful for prioritizing time.

I also think that there’s no absolute number that good and I’d rather read 1 Brothers Karamazov than 10 pulp sci-fi. But a book a week is an easy to understand target that means you need a habit. Some books will be long and some will be short, but averaging a book a week means you probably spend a lot of time reading.

[garciasn]

I read 86 books last year, completely missing my goal of 100. I used to be a voracious reader as a kid and stopped completely when I had kids and was in grad school. My kids are of the age where I want to instill in them a love of reading and the best way to lead is by example, in my opinion. It was an added benefit that I was doing it mainly before bed as a part of my attempt at better sleep habits (i.e., not using electronic devices before bed).

We make a big adventure out of going to the local bookstore and buying a bunch of books to read. We go in with some idea in mind of what we're looking for but we want to be able to explore and open ourselves to new ideas and experiences too.

My goal of 100 last year was lofty but not impossible by any stretch. I decided to try and read 1 book that was recommended, 1 book that was on a banned list, and 1 that was something I chose myself. As someone who generally reads police procedurals, it was amazing to widen my horizons and I really enjoyed being exposed to the books others have loved themselves; I feel it brought us closer together as humans.

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This year I'm already on Book #6 for 2022. The current was recommended either here or on Reddit in r/books: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pillars_of_the_Earth. I'm absolutely loving the adventure aspect of it and it reminds me a lot of a recommendation from a friend to read Lonesome Dove: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lonesome_Dove which became a favorite of all time for me.

Another favorite for this year was Hench: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hench_(novel) a comic book in novel form taken from the perspective of a background person working for a supervillain. This would NOT have been something I normally would have read and I would have ignored it completely. As something I randomly picked up at the bookstore, I was super pleased and have recommended it to others several times now.

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By all means, do you. I'm not forcing anyone to have a number goal or a process similar to mine when it comes to reading; however, everyone should dedicate regular time to reading, particularly outside of their comfort zone.